KENTUCK
iiiaaa
. AND LUCY B. THi
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
BY
DANIEL LINDSEY THOMAS, Ph.D.
LATE PROFESSOR OP ENGLISH AT CENTRE COLLEGE,
AND FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE KENTUCKY
BRANCH OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
AND
LUCY BLAYNEY THOMAS, M.A.
TEACHER OF ENGLISH AT WARD-BE LMONT SCHOOL, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON N. J.
LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1920
Copyright, 1920, by
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published, 1920
Printed in the United States of America
PREFACE
To bring together odd beliefs for the possible amuse-
ment of the curious is not the object of a research in the
field of folk superstitions such as we have attempted. The
end sought is not humor or satire; our hope is rather that
such value as is present will be serious. The study of su-
perstitious survi\als throws light on what the working of
the human mind was in the early stages of its evolution.
Eccentric and illogical beliefs of today were accepted
principles of life centuries ago. A collection of supersti-
tions, in so far as it has scholarly value, is a partial record
of what men have thought and believed. It is, therefore,
our hope that this collection may be in a real, though per-
haps small, sense, a contribution both to history and to
psychology. In Kentucky and elsewhere, the folk super-
stitions are gradually passing away; many of them are
already irrecoverably lost. For purposes of permanent
record, it would seem worth while to preserve m print all
that can be saved from loss.
In the collection of the materials for this volume, we
have received assistance from many people. For example,
teachers and students of eight or ten colleges and sixty or
seventy high schools, grade schools, and district schools
have made contributions, small or great. Many other men
and women, white and colored, in the mountains and in
the lowlands of the State, have sent us items. It is im-
possible to mention all to whom we wish to offer our grate-
ful acknowledgments. Those who have sent us the largest
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
number of usable folk superstitions are Miss Louise Kelly,
of Lebanon, Reverend and Mrs. Lucien Waggener and
Mr. C. M. Fackler, of Danville, Mr. Josiah H. Combs,
of Hindman, Rev. G. S. Watson, of Booneville, Miss
Stella Nolan, of Harlan County, Mr. Joseph Hart, of
Buckhorn, Professors L. L. Dantzler, of the University
of Kentucky, B. N. Daniel, of Georgetown College, C. C.
Freeman, of Transylvania College, John F. Smith, of
Berea College, Thos. A. Hendricks, of Hamilton College
for Women, Miss Mary Shaw, of Kentucky College for
Women, Miss Ada G. Croft, of Cumberland College,
Miss Mattye Reid, of the Western Kentucky Normal
School, Dean Kirke Smith, of Lincoln Institute (colored) ,
and Professors W. O. Hopper, of the Mt. Sterling High
School, M. E. Ligon, of the Lexington High School, G.
W. Colvin, of the Springfield High School, J. T. Norris,
of the Augusta High School, J. H. Addams, of the
Franklin High School, J. W. Welch, of the Henderson
High School, J. H. Risley, of the Owensboro High
School, and J. S. Cotter, of the Coleridge Taylor School
(colored), of Louisville. We wish to express our very
great gratitude to Professor George Lyman Kittredge
for advice and encouragement in the production of this
collection.
vi
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
CONTENTS
Introduction.
1. Birth and Child Life.
2. Family Relations.
3. Lost Articles.
4. Wishes.
5. Divinations.
6. Marriage.
7. Death and Burial.
8. The Human Body.
9. Saliva.
10. Sneezes.
11. Cures and Preventives.
12. Fire.
13. Household and Domestic Life.
14. Dreams.
15. Dress.
16. Shadows, Portraits, and Reflections.
17. Moon and Signs of the Zodiac.
18. Weather.
19. Days and Seasons.
20. Crops, Vegetables, Fruits, Trees.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
21. Money.
22. Walking Forth, Travel.
23. Letters.
24. Mines.
25. Color.
26. Numbers.
27. Sports.
28. Luck at Cards.
29. Animals, Birds, Insects, and Reptiles.
30. Witches.
31. Hoodoos.
32. Haunted Houses, Ghosts, Evil Spirits.
33. Miscellaneous.
via
INTRODUCTION
Superstitious beliefs are more persistent and more wide-
spread than most people would suspect. We have all
been fully aware that they swayed the minds of people in
earlier centuries. We know, also, that they are sprinkled
through our earlier literature ; for example, the folk super-
stitions of Shakespeare fill a volume of generous size, 1 and
instances are no less common in the writings of his con-
temporaries and are perhaps even more common in the
works of Chaucer. Their potent presence, however, in
the minds of people of our own time may reasonably cause
surprise. In 1907, 2 Mr. Fletcher B. Dresslar, of the Uni-
versity of California, asked almost nine hundred normal-
school students of the University to write down supersti-
tions that they knew and to indicate frankly their belief
or disbelief in them. As a result, 7,176 slips were handed
in, each containing a superstition. Of these, 3,951 were
accompanied with expressions of disbelief, 2,132 of partial
belief, and 1,093 of full belief. Thus 44.9 per cent of the
superstitions that were noted were shown to command
complete or partial credence. The ones mentioned by the
largest number of those engaged in the research were the
superstitions associated with Friday, the number thirteen,
the dropping of a knife, a fork, or a spoon, the picking up
of a pin, the first sight of the new moon, the breaking of a
iT. F. Thistleton-Dyer: "Folk-lore of Shakespeare." London, 1884. 8vo.
515 pages.
2 Quoted by H. Addington Bruce in an article entitled "Our Superstitions,"
in The Outlook, 1911, vol. 98, pp. 999-1006.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
mirror, the presenting of a knife to a friend, the potency
of the horseshoe, the burning of the ear, the passing of two
companions on the opposite sides of a post, the howl of a
dog, the presence of a bird in the house, the opening of an
umbrella in the house, and the turning back after one has
started anywhere. - Mr. Bruce, from whose article the re-
sults just quoted were taken, gives also the results of a
canvass of believers in superstition among the professors,
instructors, and assistants of Harvard University. This
investigation showed that only 26.6 per cent of the Har-
vard teachers questioned could say that they believed that
they were entirely free from superstition. A large num-
ber of the 73.4 per cent who confessed belief denied at first
that they were in any degree superstitious, but under close
questioning, they showed that they were not entirely in-
nocent. Professor Edwin M. Fogel, whose volume of
superstitions 3 contains the largest collection hitherto pub-
lished in America, has listed 2,083 separate superstitions
that are current among Pennsylvania Germans. The
authors of the present volume have found almost 4,000
superstitions in Kentucky. As Pennsylvania Germans
and Kentuckians are in general probably much more con-
servative than the average of Americans, inherited beliefs
doubtless persist with exceptional strength among them;
yet superstitions, it may safely be said, have disappeared
entirely from no community in our country.
The origin of all superstition may probably be traced
to the desire of mankind to propitiate fate, to avert evil,
to dispel the mystery of life and of the universe.
Primitive man, in his fear of evils that he did not Under-
pin Millf-r !'<}.'(!: "Beliefs an -'turns of the Pennsylvania (JT-
s" 1915.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
stand, sought to avoid disaster by any means that he could
find. In his ignorance of logic, he often accepted a co-
incidence as a cause. Francis Bacon well says : 4
"That hath given them [coincidences] grace, and some
credit, consisteth in three things. First, that men mark
when they hit, and never when they miss ; as they do, gen-
erally, also of dreams. The second is, that probable con-
jectures, or obscure traditions, many times turn themselves
into prophecies; while the nature of man, which coveteth
divination, thinks it no peril to foretell that which indeed
they do but collect. The third and last (which is the great
one), is, that almost all of them, being infinite in number,
have been impostures, and, by idle and crafty brains,
merely contrived and figured, after the event past."
The reasons for the survival of superstition from a more
primitive age into our own are that people are slow to
surrender beliefs that they have inherited, that many of
them are still ignorant and timorous, and that in spite of
the explanations of both science and religion they con-
tinue to find life and the universe largely inexplicable.
Search for the origins of individual superstitions has
enlisted the energies of many folk-lore scholars. Their
researches have led them to trace various folk practices to
starting-points in the Bible (often misinterpreted and
modified by tradition), in pagan mythology, in plant and
animal worship, and in sun or moon worship, and to other
sources. In as much, however, as the beginnings of folk-
lore lie in nearly all instances far back in the most primi-
tive periods of the human race, conjecture is often the
only means of seeking them. The results of research have
therefore been marred by uncertainty and guess-work^
* Francis Bacon: "Of Prophecies," 1625.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
and scholars have frequently not arrived at agreement.
For these reasons, it has seemed best in connection with
this folk-lore collection, to refrain from an attempt to
record the genesis of the various separate items. Readers
who are interested will find in the bibliographical list at
the close of the introduction the names of several works in
which the attempt is made to trace superstitious survivals
to their sources.
In consideration of the distribution of folk-lore in Ken-
tucky, it may as well be remembered that there are three
somewhat different classes of people within the State: the
mountain whites, originally from Virginia and the Caro-
linas; the lowland whites, originally from Virginia, the
Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and Maryland; and the lowland
negroes. The first and the third of these classes have
been less influenced either by immigration or by education
than the second; even the lowland whites have been less
affected by the coming in of people from outside the State
than have the inhabitants of most parts of our country.
Most Kentucky superstitions are common to all three
classes of the people, because the negroes originally ob-
tained most of their superstitions from the whites, and be-
cause the superstitions of Kentucky are in almost all cases
not recent inventions but old survivals from a time when
they were generally accepted by all Germanic peoples and
even by all Indo-Europeans.
The only class of original contributions made by the
negroes to our stock of superstitions is that of the voodoo
or hoodoo signs, which were brought from Africa by the
ancestors of the present colored people of America. These
have taken only slight root in the Caucasian mind. On
the arrival of the negro in America, his child-like mind
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
was readily receptive to the white man's superstitions.
Reciprocally the black slaves and servants in Kentucky
and elsewhere in the South have frequently been the agents
through which the minds of white children have been sown
with these supernatural beliefs, some of which have re-
mained permanently with them. Nearly all classes of
superstitions find acceptance among the negroes. The
most widely prevalent are beliefs concerning haunted
houses, weather signs, bad-luck and good-luck signs,
"charm" cures, and hoodoo signs. In particular, the ne-
groes' belief that the date of the planting of vegetables
should be determined by the phases of the moon, is un-
shakeable, and the fear, especially of the older negroes, is
ever-present that an enemy will impose a hoodoo upon
them. With increase of travel, with somewhat broader
and more active industrial life, and with improved chances
for education, the Kentucky negroes appear to be slowly,
though very slowly, losing their superstitious beliefs.
Even in the very good negro schools of Louisville and
Lexington, however, most of the students, older ones as
well as younger, have thus far progressed but little in this
direction.
Until the past decade, the life in much of the mountain
region of Kentucky has been isolated and primitive. Be-
fore that time, not only were there no railroads in the heart
of the mountains, but even roads were surprisingly scarce.
The beds of small streams served, and in many places still
serve, as ready, if not satisfactory, substitutes. Along
with feuds, illicit stills, emotional religion, and genuine
hospitality, which are characteristics of the pinched life
in the mountain fastnesses, folk superstitions have sur-
vived with great tenacity. Of late, however, a transfer-
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
mation has begun in this once remote section. Railroads
have entered from several directions to open up the coal,
oil, and lumber fields. At present, with a fuller industrial
life, newcomers have arrived, old families have been scat-
tered, schools have become better and more numerous, and
the life of the old communities has entered upon a process
of change. The superstitious beliefs still retained by the
old-type mountaineers are in general those that were
brought to Kentucky by their English and Scotch-Irish
ancestors. Many are concerned with good and bad luck
signs, which are more or less similar to those that have sur-
vived in other places. The chief difference is that these
survivals are more widely accepted in the conservative
fastnesses of the mountaineers than elsewhere among the
white people of Kentucky. Folk remedies and medicines
are, also, very widely trusted by the highlanders; for ex-
ample, many folk practices are customary in connection
with child-birth. Men and women who -are thought to ac-
complish cures by incantations, or "ceremonies," and phy-
sicians who reinforce more or less legitimate medical prac-
tice with charm cures are only gradually becoming less
numerous and less influential. One of the most remark-
able classes of folk-lore survivals in the mountains of
Kentucky is that of witch lore. Perhaps there is at this
time no other place in the English-speaking parts of the
world where superstitions concerning witches receive so
much credence. The supposed activity of these malevolent
beings is now, however, as one may judge from the data of
later pages in this volume, confined mainly to the be-
witching of cows and rarely to the "spelling" of a dog, a
horse, or a person. The mountain witch stories are slowly
passing into the same class with fairy tales. At present.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
the witches are few, and the witch and charm doctors are
chiefly old men and women, who, when they die, will in
many cases leave no successors. Yet so instinctive and
deep-rooted is superstition that education and the interests
of an increasingly more conventional life in the Kentucky
mountains combat it with but slow success.
As the lowland whites of Kentucky are more numer-
ous, more varied, and geographically more widely spread
than either the negroes of the Blue Grass and the western
parts of the State or the white people of the mountains,
probably as many individual superstitions may be gleaned
among them as among either the negroes or the moun-
taineers. Naturally they are more fully current in small
towns and in country districts than in cities, and more
fully among children and illiterates than among educated
adults. In a small Kentucky town, life changes less rapid-
ly than in many other places. As it is still in some measure
similar to the life in a typical town of a border- Southern
State such as Mark Twain reproduces in Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn, it is not surprising that every folk
superstition mentioned in those two books is to be found in
the following pages.
A larger percentage of the negroes than of the moun-
taineers are strongly swayed by folk signs, and a larger
proportion of the mountaineers than of the lowland Cau-
casians. Of this collection of almost four thousand sepa-
rate items, the majority may be found among both low-
landers and highlanders and among both negroes and
whites. In the presence of improved and more accessible
educational advantages and of increasing complexity of
life, superstitions are very gradually dying out in Ken-
tucky.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
BOOKS TREATING FOLK SUPERSTITIONS
COLLECTIONS OF SUPERSTITIONS
V. S. Lean: Lean's Collectanea. 1902-1904.
Cora Linn Daniels and C. M. Stevans: Encyclopaedia of Super-
stitions, Folklore and the Occult Sciences of the World. 3 vols. 1903.
J. G. Frazer: The Golden Bough. 14 vols. 1914.
S. Baring-Gould: Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. 2nd Edit.,
2 vols. 1868.
T. F. Thistleton-Dyer : The Folk- Lore of Plants. 1889.
Fanny D. Bergen: Current Superstitions culled from the oral tra-
dition of English speaking folk, with introduction by Wm. Wells
Newell. 1896.
Fanny D. Bergen: Animal and Plant Lore. Memoirs of the Ameri-
can Folk-Lore Society. 1899.
Clifton Johnson: What they say in New England. (This volume
contains several hundred New-England superstitions.)
Edwin Miller Fogel: Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsyl-
vania Germans. 1915. (This volume contains 2083 separate super-
stitions).
PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS
Folk-Lore. A quarterly review. London. 1893-
The Journal of American Folk-Lore. 1888-
BOOKS ON SOURCES OF FOLK SUPERSTITIONS
J. G. Frazer: The Golden Bough. 14 vols. 1914.
John Fiske: Myths and Mythmakers. 1873.
John Brand: Observations on Popular Antiquities. A new edition
with the additions of Sir Henry Ellis. 1900.
8
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
Charles Hardwick: Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-lore
(chiefly Lancashire and North of England) ; their Eastern Origin and
Mythical Significance. 1872.
Robert Means Lawrence: The Magic of the Horseshoe, with other
Fold-lore. 1898.
William George Black: Folk Medicine. 1883.
Thomas Sharper Knowlson: The Origins of Popular Superstitions
and Customs. 1910.
Frank W. Nicolson: The Saliva Superstition in Classical Liter-
ature. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 8. 1897.
BIRTH AND CHILD LIFE
(The notation of a section of Kentucky in connection
with a superstition shows that it has been reported only
from that section. The absence of localization indicates
that the superstition is general. The attribution to defi-
nite localities is necessarily somewhat loose.)
1. A woman in travail should hold salt clenched in her
two outstretched hands Mountains
2. In a case of child labor, place an axe edge up under
the bed of the mother Mountains
3. If an expectant mother places her hand upon her
body, the child will have a birthmark at the position
on its body that she presses Mountains
4. An expectant mother should not have her teeth filled.
5. In a case of child labor, cross hazel twigs, put them
across an open Bible, and place them under the
pillow Mountains
6. Wine is necessary to women with child. At com-
munion a pregnant woman, whether a church mem-
ber or not, may receive the communion wine
, Mountains
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
7. To drain a woman at child-birth, the physician places
his shoes on the woman and makes her walk about
in them until the time of the after-birth; then he
places his hat on her head Mountains
8. To hasten child-delivery, give a woman a drink of
which another woman has partaken .... Blue Grass
9. To hasten child-delivery, beat a rattlesnake's rattles
fine and give the powder to the one that is in la-
bor Blue Grass
10. The number of balls on the naval string of the first
child shows the number of children that a woman
will have Mountains
11. Children are brought by a stork.
12. A child born with a caul, that is, with the birth mem-
branes unruptured, will have second sight.
13. If a green veil shrouds the face of a new-born child,
the child is gifted with prophecy Mountains
14. If an enemy, at the birth of a child, can get posses-
sion of the baby's after-birth, he can control the
child's fate for evil ever afterwards.
15. If you visit a new boy baby and kiss it, you will have
good luck North-eastern Kentucky
16. If you make fun of a little baby, you will have the
thing that you ridicule in it
Central Kentucky Negroes
17. If one finds a baby-pacifier, there is going to be an
addition to the family.
18. When a baby smiles in its sleep, angels are talking
to it.
19. A child that is born on Christmas Day can under-
stand the speech of animals Mountains
20. A baby's crying at christening is a good-luck sign.
10
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
21. If a child's ear runs into the cheek without a crease
at the lobe, it will have criminal tendencies.
22. Bald-headed babies are from fine stock.
23. If a child's hair is long and heavy, the child will not
grow, as all its strength will go into its hair
Central Kentucky
24. If a baby is born with an unusually large amount of
hair, it will have very little at maturity ,
Central Kentucky
25. If a baby is born with no hair or but little, it will have
a great deal at maturity Central Kentucky
26. If a child has a large mouth, it will be a good singer
Central Kentucky
27. If a baby has early teething, there will be a new baby
in the family soon Mountains
28. It brings bad luck to put a new-born baby on a table.
29. If you take a baby down the hill before you take it
up the hill, it will go down hill in life . . . Mountains
30. Carry your baby upstairs before you dp downstairs,
so that it will rise in the world.
31. If a child sings in bed, it will wet the bed. . Mountains
32. If you crack the first louse found in a child's head on
the bottom of a tin cup, the child will make a good
singer Mountains
33. When a boy baby is taken for the first time on a call,
its disposition will be affected by that of the man
of the house Southern Kentucky
34. When a girl baby is taken for the first time on a
call, its disposition will be affected by that of the
woman of the house Southern Kentucky
35. If a child is homely when it is small, it will be good-
looking when it is grown.
11
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
36. If a child is good-looking when it is small, it will be
homely when it is grown.
37. A beautiful girl will not be nervous when she is a
woman.
38. If aa infant clutches a coin that is put into its hands,
it will love money.
39. If an infant does not clutch a coin that is put into its
hands, it will be a spendthrift.
40. If a baby's fist closes over money that is put into its
hands, it will be prosperous when it is grown.
41. If a baby's fist does not close over money that is put
into his hands, it will be poor when it is grown.
42. Place a child on the floor with a Bible, a dollar, and a
deck of cards. The one that he chooses first indi-
cates his future as a preacher, financier, or gambler.
43. If the hand of a new-born baby is closed tight, it will
be close or saving.
44. If the hand of a new-born baby is open, it will be of
a generous disposition.
45. If a child cries a great deal when it is an infant, it
will make a good man or woman.
46. It brings bad luck to change a baby's name.
47. If in dressing the baby for the first time you put its
right arm into its dress first, it will be right-handed.
48. If on the first time that a baby is dressed the left arm
is put into the dress before the right arm, the baby
will be left-handed.
49. It causes bad luck to put a baby's dress on over its
head before it is one year old.
50. Pull the baby's clothes on over its feet instead of
over its head, or it will never grow.
12
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
51. Do not cut the baby's nails until it is one month old.
It will be light-fingered if you do.
52. If you bite a baby's finger nails, it will steal when it
grows up.
53. If you cut off a baby's finger nails, it will die before
it is six years old.
54. Anyone except a mother may cut a baby's nails with-
out damage.
55. If you place a hat on a baby's head before it is a
year old, it will not grow any more.
56. You must not put a hat on a baby's head, for, if you
do so, you will cause bad teething.
57. Make a baby cut teeth by putting a hat on its head
before it is six months old.
58. It brings bad luck to cut a baby's hair before it is
a year old. The child will die.
59. To keep a person from growing, take three hairs
from the back of his neck and three from each tem-
ple, make a hole in a Columbia poplar at the per-
son's height, put the hairs into the hole, and drive
in a peg Mountains
60. It is bad luck to let the baby look into a mirror be-
fore it is one year old.
61. Do not let the baby look into a mirror before it
teethes. This act will make teething hard.
62. If a baby looks into a mirror, it will be small.
63. If a baby looks into a mirror before it is one year old,
it will die.
64. If a baby looks into a mirror before it is a year old,
it will die before it is two years old.*
65. If you show a baby itself in a mirror before it is six
months old, it will die before it is a year old.
13
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
66. If you measure a child on the day that it is two years
of age, it will be half as tall as it ever will be
Louisville Negroes
67. It causes bad luck for a child to be put under a bed
on its ninth birthday, for it will never grow any
more Mountains
68. It brings bad luck to count a baby's teeth.
69. If a child puts its tooth under its pillow at night, it
will become a five-cent piece by morning.
70. If a baby's first tooth grows into the gum above, it
will be a thief.
71. If you tickle a baby, you will cause it to stutter.
72. If a child is prematurely wise, he will not live long.
73. The good die young.
74. If a baby does not fall off the bed, it will never be
reared.
75. If a young child marks the furniture, it will soon die,
"It is marking itself out of the world."
Western Kentucky
76. Unless a baby crawls before it walks, it will crawl in
after life Central Kentucky
77. A baby's sneezing at the table is a sign of death.
78. If a baby talks before it walks, its tongue will ruin
it Central Kentucky
79. If the teakettle boils in a room where there is a little
baby, the baby will have colic . . . Central Kentucky
80. Never carry a baby in a funeral procession before it
is a year old; if you do, it will die
Central Kentucky Negroes
81. If you think too much of a child, he will die. (2nd
Commandment.) Mountains
82. The third son has the brains of the family . Mountains
14
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
83. If any one steps over you, you will not grow any
more.
84. When a baby sticks out its tongue, it wants some-
thing that it has not.
85. When a baby sweeps a floor, the act is the sign of
someone coming.
86. If a child blows all the fluff from the dandelion in
one blow, his mother wishes him very much ; in two
blows, not so much; in three blows, not enough to
cease play Mountains
87. Blow the seed-ball from a dandelion and then count
the seeds left; the number you count will indicate
the number of days until you will get a whipping.
88. The boy that steps on another boy's foot is his worst
enemy ; but if a girl does so, she is his best friend . .
Louisville Negroes
89. If a child drops his school book and picks it up, he
will miss his lesson in it. He can avert the disaster
by kissing his book.
90. If a child drops his book and does not stamp it be-
fore picking it up, he will miss his lesson
Louisville Negroes
91. If some one picks up for a child a book that he has
dropped, the former and not the latter will miss
the lesson.
92. A girl who drops her school books may avert bad
luck or a missed lesson by walking around each
article and putting her foot on it.
93. To keep from missing his lesson, a child should step
on his books Blue Grass
94. If a child sleeps with his text book under his head at
night, he will know his lesson next day.
15
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
95. If a child goes for a switch for the punishment of an-
other child, the former will himself be whipped.
96. On a child's birthday, he should receive a blow with
a switch or other instrument of pain for each year
of his life. Each blow should be accompanied by
the pronouncing of n line of the following or a simi-
lar incantation, adapted to fit the age of the child:
One to live on;
One to grow on ;
One to eat on;
One to be happy on;
One to get married on.
FAMILY RELATIONS
97. A poor man is sure to have many children ("A fool
for luck and a poor man for children") .
98. If there is strong family resemblance between par-
ent and child, the child will outlive the parent.
99. If a daughter resembles her father, she is born for
good luck.
100. If a boy is born like his mother, he is born for good
luck.
101. It is unlucky to be named for your mother
Mountains
102. Step on a crack,
Break your mother's back.
103. If you are walking backwards, you are cursing your
parents.
104. If you walk backwards and look over your left shoul-
der, you curse your mother Central Kentucky
105. One in each family can locate water or veins of water
16
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
by taking a peach-tree fork and turning it upside
down like this V . The fork will turn down
in the neighborhood of water underground.
LOST ARTICLES
106. To find which way the cows have gone, catch a dad-
dy-long-legs by the hind legs, and he will point
with one of his front legs.
107. Count a hundred stars without repetition; then you
will find something lost.
108. If you secretly bury a marble and go back in three
days, all the marbles that you have ever lost will
be there Blue Grass
109. Find a marble or other lost article by throwing an-
other one and watching where it goes.
110. In order to find anything lost, shut your eyes and
turn around several tanes. Then throw something
at random. The way it goes is the way toward the
lost article Blue Grass
111. To find a lost article, spit into your hand, strike the
saliva with your other hand, and watch the direc-
tion of the splash.
112. If you have lost a ball, spit into the palm of your
hand and say, "Spit, spat, where is the ball at?"
While you are repeating these words, take the
other hand with two fingers and strike the saliva.
It will fly in the direction of the ball
Central Kentucky
113. If a person loses a needle and someone else asks if
there was a thread in it, the loser of the needle will
find it North-eastern Kentucky
17
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
114. If you lose anything, you will find it seven days later
at the same time that you lost it, provided you do
not look before Blue Grass
115. Shut your eyes and throw a piece of gravel. After
a week, try to find it. If you succeed, you will have
good luck.
116. To find a ring that has been lost, carry a peach switch
gripped tightly. It will turn down when you reach
the place where the ring is lost.
117. To find gold that is lost, place a dime in the end of
a forked cherry or peach switch and proceed as in
the last given superstition.
118. You may recover lost money by kissing a negro.
119. If you find that you are lost, go in the opposite di-
rection, and you will come to your destination.
120. If you are lost, throw a knife over your back. The
way the blade points is the way to take.
WISHES
121. A wish made on the new moon will come to pass.
122. Make a wish on a new moon; if you do not look at
the moon until it is new again, your wish will come
true Blue Grass
123. When you see the new moon, turn a piece of money
over and make a wish ; the wish will come true ....
Mountains
124. If you see the new moon over the left shoulder, any
wish you make will come true. .Western Kentucky
125. If you see the moon over your right shoulder and
make a wish, it will come true Mountains
126. Make a wish when you see the first star and do not
18
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
speak until you see another. The wish will come
true.
127. Put a ring on the finger at the sight of the first star
in the evening. Your wish will come true
i Mountains
128. If when you see a meteor you can make a wish before
it disappears, your wish will come true.
129. When you see a shooting star, if you say "Money"
three times you will have a full pocket book
Mountains
130. If you see a bluebird and make a wish before it flies
away, the wish will come to pass.
131. If you see a crow flying through the air, make a
wish. If he does not flap his wings before he goes
out of sight, the wish will come true. If he does
flap his wings, look away, and if you do not see him
again your wish will come true.
132. Your wish will be realized if you make it when the
first turtle-dove of the spring coos .... Blue Grass
133. Make a wish when you see a redbird.
134. If you throw a kiss at a redbird and make a wish, it
will come true.
135. Make a wish when you see a redbird. If it flies to the
right, the wish will come to pass.
136. After you have made a wish at the sight of a redbird,
the wish will come to pass if the bird flies upward
Western Kentucky
137. Name a redbird. If you make a wish before the bird
flies, it will come true.
138. If you see a redbird, make a wish and spit at it three
times before it gets out of sight. Under these con-
ditions the wish will come true Mountains
19
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
139. If you make a wish when you see a lone turkey-buz-
zard and do not look at it again, it will come true
Central Kentucky
140. A wish made on the first whippoorwill in spring and
kept secret will come to pass Mountains
141. When you hear the first whippoorwill of the year,
walk three steps back, pick up whatever is under
your left heel, spit on it, and make a wish.
142. If you see a flock of birds, make a wish, and do not
look at the birds again Mountains
143. If you see a flock of blackbirds, name them and make
a wish Mountains
144. When you see a gray cat, look at its fore feet and
make a wish. If you see it again, the wish will
come to pass Mountains
145. If you see a spotted horse and make a wish, it will
come true, provided you do not see it again.
146. Make a wish at the sight of a white horse.
147. If you spit over your little finger when you see a
white horse, your wish nvill come true
Western Kentucky
148. If you find a horseshoe with the toe towards you,
throw it over your right shoulder and make a wish
Mountains
149. Put a horseshoe above a door. The first one that
passes under it must make a wish.
150. Spit on a horseshoe and throw it over your head. If
the outside remains up, your greatest desire will
be realized Southern Kentucky
151. You can avert ill luck from the passing of a double
horse or mule wagon by running across the road
and making a wish. The wish will come true.
20
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
152. When you see a gray mule, make a wish, wet your
thumb, and stamp your hand Mountains
153. If you find a nail, hammer it into something, and at
the same time make a wish. The wish will come
true Mountains
154. Two people may each make a wish and then break a
wishbone between them. The one that gets the
shorter piece will be married first, and the other
will obtain his wish.
155. If you make a wish before you go up a hill and do
not look back, your wish will come true . Mountains
156. Make a wish and throw a piece of wish vine over
your right shoulder into the weeds. If it grows,
your wish will come true Mountains
157. Make a wish on a grain of corn that you have found
and bury the corn. The wish will come to pass ....
Southern Kentucky
158. If you find a four-leaved clover, hold it above the
head and make a wish Mountains
159. Put a four-leaved clover into your shoe. Make a
wish. When it is lost out, the wish will come true.
160. Share a double almond with some one. Let each
make a wish. When you two next meet, the first
that says "Philippino" will get his wish.
161. Make a wish at the sight of a hay wagon.
162. When you see a wagon of hay, make a wish. Count
thirteen while you look, then turn away, and do
not see the wagon of hay again. The wish will come
true. If the hay is baled, the wish will not come
true until the bales are broken.
163. If you pass a loaded wagon, make a wish. If you
21
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
pass it a second time, the wish will not come true
and you will have bad luck.
164. It brings bad luck to pass a hay wagon without mak-
ing a wish. A serious sickness in the family or
death will ensue.
165. Make a wish at the sight of a freight-train. Count
"yes, no, maybe so," to find whether the wish will
come to pass Blue Grass
166. Whenever a yellow railroad car passes, make a wish.
If you do not look at the car again, the wish will
come true.
167. Make a wish when you cross a new bridge
Southern Kentucky
168. When you pass over a railroad bridge, you may make
a wish, and if you do not speak until you have
passed over the bridge the wish will come true.
169. If you spit over a bridge-railing into the water and
then do not speak until you are off the bridge, your
wish will come to pass.
170. If you count twelve while you cross a bridge and
make a wish, the wish will come true . . . Blue Grass
171. Always go the end of the walk, hang your left foot
over, and make a wish. The wish will come true.
If you do not follow this plan precisely, you will
have bad luck.
172. If on the first time you go into a new house you make
a wish, it will come to pass.
173. Upon entering a strange house go to the kitchen and
make a wish. It will come true.
174. A wish made in a bed never before slept in will come
true.
175. When an eyelash falls out, make a wish and blow the
22
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
lash from the back of your hand; if the lash falls
off, the wish will come true, but if it sticks to the
back of the hand, the wish will not come true.
176. If you find a loose eyelash on another person, put it
on your left hand, make a wish, and blow the eye-
lash over your right shoulder. Your wish will come
true.
177. Make a wish while untangling your hair.
178. If when you find a pin pointed toward you you make
a wish, it will surely come to pass.
179. Find a pin, stick it on your left shoulder with your
right hand, make a wish, and pass it on.
180. When you find a pin, make a wish, put the pin on
your shoulder, and do not glance at it again. Your
wish will come true. Variant: if you lose it with-
out knowing when, the wish will come true.
181. Make a wish when you put a ring on some one's
finger.
182. If you turn another person's ring around eighteen
times and make a wish, it will come true.
183. If you make a wish and then look over your left
shoulder (not looking through trees at the new
moon), your wish will come true Blue Grass
184. A girl may make a wish if her skirt turns up.
185. If you must change a garment accidentally put on
wrong side out, make a wish while doing so. This
act will avert bad luck, and your wish will come
true.
186. If a point of scissors that you drop sticks into the
floor, make a wish. It will come to pass.
187. Find a hairpin, make a wish, and hang the hairpin up.
188. If you bend the ends of a found hairpin while mak-
23
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
ing a wish, and throw the hairpin away, the wish
will come true.
189. If you find a hairpin, bend each prong with someone,
make a wish, and then throw it over the left shoul-
der.
190. If you drop a comb, you may turn the teeth down
and make a wish.
191. If you drop a comb, put your foot on it and make a
wish.
192. When two persons speak the same word at the same
time, they should join their little fingers and make
a wish.
193. If two people say the same thing at the same time,
they must lock their little fingers and say alter-
nately: Red, blue (or other color) ; needles, pins;
Shakespeare, Longfellow (or other poets). Then
each may make a wish.
194. If two people say the same thing at the same time,
they should make wishes, touch wood, and touch
blue, and their wishes will come true.
195. Make a wish and open the Bible. If anywhere on
the page these words occur, "And it will come to
pass," the wish will come true.
196. When you look into a well for the first time, any wish
you make will come to pass Mountains
197. If you drop a dish cloth, step over it and make a
wish Mountains
198. If you eat the point of a piece of pie last and make
a wish on it, the wish will come to pass.
199. If you forget something and come back for it, sit
down and make a wish before going on.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
DIVINATIONS CONCERNING LOVE
200. If you hold an apple in your armpit until it is warm
and then eat it, your sweetheart will love you
Southern Kentucky
201. If you can break an apple in two, you can get any
one you choose for your life partner
North-eastern Kentucky
202. If you can break an apple in two after some one has
named it, the one named loves you .... Blue Grass
203. An apple peeling that has been removed from the
fruit without a break may be thrown over the left
shoulder to form the initial of the person that one
will marry.
204. Count apple-seeds with the use of this formula: "one,
I love, two, I love ; three, I love, I say ; four, I love
with all my heart; five, I cast away; six, he loves;
seven, she loves; eight, both love; nine, he comes;
ten, he tarries; eleven, he courts; twelve, they
marry."
205. As many fresh apple seeds as stick to the forehead
when pressed against it, so many days will it be
until you see your sweetheart Mountains
206. Shoot an apple seed up ; your sweetheart lives in the
direction that it goes Mountains
207. Name apple seeds and shoot them at the ceiling.
The one that hits the ceiling shows which one loves
you best.
208. Put an apple seed on each eye. Name each seed.
The first that falls shows which one loves you the
more.
25
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
209. Put five seeds on your face and name them. The
first to fall off shows which one you will marry.
210. Place apple seeds on the grate. Name them. The
ones that jump show which ones love you.
211. Count apple seeds to learn the number of children
you will have Mountains
212. If you can eat a crab apple without frowning, you
can get the person you desire Mountains
213. If a girl's apron comes unpinned, her sweetheart has
been taken.
214. If a girl's apron becomes unfastened and drops off,
her lover is thinking of her.
215. If your apron slips off, your sweetheart is talking
about you.
216. Make a string of beans and throw it down. The
initial that it forms will be that of your future mate.
217. Name each corner bed post when you retire. The
post that you have your hand on in the morning in-
dicates the one you will marry.
218. Rub each post of the bed with the peeling of two
lemons which you have carried all day. The per-
son who offers you two lemons in your dream is
your future partner in life.
219. Name the corners of the bed-room. The one that
you look at first in the morning will show which
person loves you best.
220. If you look under the bed, you will never marry.
221. Make up a bed with some one and do not speak
while you are doing it. You will marry the first
person with whom you shake hands afterward.
222. If you cannot make a bed well, you will marry a
worthless man.
26
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
223. To eat beets is a sign that you are in love . Mountains
224. If you can touch with your finger a piece of soot (a
so-called beauty spot) on your face, your sweet-
heart loves you North-eastern Kentucky
225. If you sleep with a Bible under your head three suc-
cessive nights, you will dream whom you shall
marry Mountains
226. Before you go to bed at night, get the Bible, select a
chapter that has as many verses as your sweetheart
is years old, memorize the last one, repeat it two
or three times, put the Bible under your pillow, and
go to sleep. If you dream of the person, you will
marry him or her, as the case may be ... Blue Grass
227. If uninvited you take the last portion from a dish,
you will not be married that year. Leave it for
fairies.
228. If you take the last portion on a dish at the invita-
tion of someone, you will have a handsome hus-
band or wife.
229. If you take the last biscuit on the plate, a rich young
widower or widow is your fate.
230. If you take the next to the last biscuit on the plate,
you will never marry.
231. If you take the next to the last biscuit or the like,
you will have a handsome husband.
232. If a bird flies into the house, the one who discovers
it will be married before the year is out. His
spouse will be from the region from which the bird
came ; for example, a robin represents a town per-
son and a meadow lark a country person.
233. If you find a bird's nest empty, you will never marry.
If it has one egg in it, you will marry within one
27
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
year ; if two eggs, two years ; et cetera . . Mountains
234. If you stick your finger, put three drops of blood on
a piece of cloth and leave it by your bedside. Your
future husband's or wife's initials will be written
on it in the morning North-eastern Kentucky
235. If you burn your bread, your sweetheart is angry
with you.
236. If a girl allows the bread to burn while baking it,
she will never be married.
237. If a girl burns bread while baking it, her married
life will be unhappy Southern Kentucky
238. If you kill the "British lady" (the red-winged black-
bird), you will marry the next man you meet. . . .
Mountains
239. If you can jump over a broom placed on the seats
of two chairs, you will marry within a year
Mountains
240. If you step in front of a broom with which some one
is sweeping, you will not be married that year. . . .
Mountains
241. If you cut first into a cake of butter, you will be an
old maid Western Kentucky
242. If a butterfly settles on you, you will get a new
sweetheart Mountains
243. To learn your future husband's profession count
your buttons, saying:
"Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief,
Doctor, merchant, lawyer, chief."
244. If you take the piece that is on top of the cake, you
will never marry Central Kentucky
245. Light a candle and leave it. Your intended mate
will blow it out.
28
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
246. Blow out the candles of a birthday cake. If you ex-
tinguish all at once, you will be married within a
year.
247. The number of birthday candles left unextinguished
after you have blown once shows how many years
your wedding is off.
248. Get a bow of ribbon out of a boy's cap and put it into
your locket. The first boy that you cross water
with thereafter will be the one you are to marry. .
Southern Kentucky
249. In the telling of fortunes, the cards have the signifi-
cations shown below:
Hearts.
ace house or home,
two kiss.
three short space of time : 3 hours, 3 days, etc,
four pleasant crowd: dining, dance, extreme
and "mushy" social pleasure,
five marriage,
six love,
seven jealousy.
eight large number of love affairs,
nine you get your wish,
ten extreme love pleasures,
king somewhat gray elderly man.
queen rather blond woman,
jack rather blond young man.
Clubs.
ace introduction,
two new things in your life,
three space of time longer than in hearts.
29
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
four crowd: smaller or quieter than in hearts.
five ring at bell, knock at door, etc.
six ride in carriage, motor, etc.
seven journey on water.
eight business transaction.
nine sure luck (best in deck).
ten long journey.
king elderly rather dark man.
queen rather dark woman.
jack rather dark man.
Diamonds,
ace a letter,
two very good luck.
three three pieces of good fortune together,
four pleasant crowd, less extremely so than
in hearts.
five diamond ring,
six money,
seven conversation,
eight more money than six.
nine disappointment,
ten more money than eight,
king elderly, very white-haired man.
queen extremely blond woman,
jack young blond man.
Spades.
ace a strange bed.
two trouble: lie, angry words, etc.
three long period of time: three ytears or
more,
four crowd or sorrow: at accident, fire, etc.
30
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
five sickness.
six funeral, death.
seven tears.
eight strong drink, d.t.'s.
nine disaster. Worst card in deck.
ten loss (not necessarily extreme like other
tens).
king elderly, extremely dark man.
queen extremely dark woman,
jack extremely dark young man.
250. Fortunes told with cards should involve the use of
a new deck.
251. A woman that loves a cat will be an old maid.
252. If you give a black cat a piece of pickle and it eats it,
the first man the cat goes to you will marry.
253. To meet a black cat with green eyes is a sign that
your sweetheart is likely to quarrel with you
Western Kentucky
254. If you tie a knot in a cedar limb and name it and it
grows, the person it is named for loves you
Western Kentucky
255. If you walk across a cellar door or a cellar grating
you will never be married.
256. The falling back of a chair as you leave it means that
you will not marry within a year.
257. If when you turn a chair over you let it lie until you
count thirty, you will marry twice Mountains
258. If you turn over a chair in rising, begin to say the
alphabet. The letter you pick it up on is the initial
of your future life partner.
259. If you knock a chair over and some one begins to
count, the number counted before you pick the
31
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
chair up is the number of years before you will
marry.
260. Bathe your hands, feet, and face in some water in
which you have placed charcoal. You will find a
lock of your husband's hair in one piece of the
charcoal Western Kentucky
261. If your cheeks burn, your sweetheart is talking about
you.
262. Name the chestnuts on a grate. The first one to
jump shows which person loves you most.
263. If a girl soaks her bread or cake in her coffee, she will
be an old maid.
264. If you look into a coffee pot, you will be an old maid.
265. In the grounds of a coffee cup the small lines that
form a heart shape means a letter, a snake shape an
enemy, a coffin a death, and a straight line peace
and happiness.
266. If you find a four-leaved clover, put it into the bot-
tom of your shoe. The first man you meet while
carrying this clover in your shoe will be your hus-
band.
267. "If a maid finds a four-leaf clover,
On that day she will meet her lover.
She will know him by her beating heart,
For love is of each life a part." Mountains
268. Put a four-leaved clover into your shoe, go to sleep,
and you will see the one you are to marry
Southern Kentucky
269. If you find a four-leaved clover and place it in your
left shoe, and then shake hands first with a person
of your sex, you will never marry ; if first with one
82
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
of the other sex, that person is destined to be your
mate Blue Grass
270. If one finds three four- leaved clovers inside of three
hours, the third person he will see will be his future
mate Blue Grass
271. Different colors, such as red, blue, and the like, indi-
cate the different states of love, for example bad,
true, and so forth.
272. If a blue vein shows plainly on your nose when you
are a baby, you will never see your wedding clothes
Blue Grass
273. If you see a blue-eyed dog, your next sweetheart will
be whiteheaded Mountains
274. If you wear red, you will never wed .... Blue Grass
275. If you see a hen flying with a red tail, you will marry
the next person that sees her Mountains
276. If you find a red ear of corn, you will be married
within a year.
277. Count a hundred red ties; the man who has the one-
hundredth on will be your husband.
278. After you have counted a hundred boys with red
neckties, the first boy you see with a blue tie on,
you will marry; and the first boy you see with a
white one on, you will love first.
279. If a girl meets a team of white horses and then names
ten different colors of ties, the last color she sees
will be the one on the man that she is going to
marry.
280. Count one hundred white horses. The first man you
see thereafter with a red necktie you will marry.
281. Count one hundred gray horses; you will marry on
the day you count the last one.
33
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
282. If you count one hundred white horses, you will
marry before the year is out.
283. Stamp ten white horses; then the first man you see
with a red necktie on is the man you will marry.
284. After you have counted forty gray horses, the next
man you meet with a red necktie will be your life
mate.
285. After you have counted a hundred grey horses, name
a color ; the first man you meet wearing a tie of the
same color will be your future husband.
286. Count one hundred white horses and one white mule.
The next man you meet will be your life partner.
287. Count ninety-nine horses and a white mule; the first
person you shake hands with thereafter you will
marry.
288. When you are counting a hundred gray horses, one
gray mule will be equivalent to ten of that number.
289. If the first corn silk that you see in any season is red,
you will soon attend a wedding. ( Cf . the sign that
if the first corn silk is white you will go to a funer-
al.)
290. If the first butterfly of the season is a white one, you
will go to a wedding before the season is over ....
Central Kentucky
291. If you wear a yellow flower, you are jealous.
292. If you shake hands across the communion table, you
will marry Mountains
293. If you find an even number of grains on an ear of
corn, you will marry once and have a happy mar-
riage.
294. If you find an odd number of grains on an ear of
corn, you will marry twice, both times unhappily.
34
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
295. Cut seven initials on the ground, put a grain of corn
into every one, and turn a hen loose. The one she
picks up first shows whom you will marry.
296. If your cornbread is rough, your husband's face will
be rough.
297. If you cross a street corner diagonally, you will not
be married this year.
298. If you have two crowns, you will cross the water and
marry twice.
299. A curly-headed individual can get anybody he wants
Mountains
300. Pluck the petals from a daisy, repeating as you do
so: "He loves me, loves me not." The words on
which the last petal is plucked reveal the fortune.
301. It is lucky to receive a proposal at a dance and refuse
it Western Kentucky
302. Blow a dandelion ball. The number of seeds left in-
dicates the number of children you will have.
303. Blow a dandelion ball. If you drive away all of the
seeds in one exhalation, you will be married.
304. The number of seeds left on a dandelion ball when
you have blown it once will ; be the number of years
before you are married.
305. If in early spring, a young woman will sit on the
ground, reach behind her, and pick up a handful
of dirt, she will find in it a hair the color of her fu-
ture husband's.
306. If you drop your dish cloth, your sweetheart is com-
ing.
307. If a girl allows dish-water to come to the boiling
point, she will not marry that year.
35
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
308. If a dog follows you, encourage him, as he will bring
you a handsome husband Western Kentucky
309. If you go in one door and out another, you will catch
a new sweetheart. . . Central Kentucky
310. The direction of the first turtle-dove which you hear
in the spring is the direction of your sweetheart . . .
Mountains
311. If when you hear the first turtle-dove of the season
you turn around three times on your heel and then
look into the heel of your stocking, you will find a
hair the color of your future mate's .... Mountains
312. If you are the first to sleep under a new quilt, the
hero or heroine of your dream will be your partner
in matrimony Southern Kentucky
313. If you dream of a coffin, you will marry rich but die
soon after.
314. If you dream that you cry, you will be married with-
in a year.
315. To dream of dates is a sign that you will break your
betrothal.
316. A dream of death is a sign of a wedding.
317. If with the dream bone of a hog under your pillow
you dream of a person of the opposite sex, you
will marry him.
318. To dream of a horse is a sign that you are loved by
one person alone Mountains
319. If you dream that you kiss somebody, you will be
disappointed in love.
320. If you dream that a log (or a plank) falls out of your
house, you will lose your married partner. If you
dream that some one puts or helps put it back, you
will marry that person Mountains
36
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
321. If a girl dreams in church that she nods towards the
minister, she will marry a young parson
Western Kentucky
322. To dream of money is a sign of marriage.
323. If a girl dreams that she eats a pickle, an old bachelor
will kiss her. Western Kentucky
324. If a young man dreams that he eats a pickle, he will
be beloved by a woman older than he is and of a
sour temper Western Kentucky
325. If you dream of old shoes, someone will take your
sweetheart away from you Mountains
326. If you dream of a wedding, you will never marry.
327. If you get the front of your dress wet while wash-
ing your clothes, your husband will be a drunkard.
328. If your dress is turned up on the right side, your
sweetheart loves you Mountains
329. If your dress is turned up on the left side, your be-
loved dislikes you Mountains
330. If you swallow a wild duck's heart, you will get the
person that you desire.
331. If your ears burn, name each one for people of the
opposite sex; the one which ceases to burn first
shows the one who loves you the better
North-eastern Kentucky
332. If your left ear burns, your lover is thinking of
you North-eastern Kentucky
333. If you boil an egg, remove the yolk, fill it with salt,
and eat it just before going to sleep, the man that
brings you a cup of water in your dream you will
marry. If the cup is of gold, you will be wealthy;
if of tin, very poor.
334. Place an egg in front of an open fire at night and sit
37
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
in front of it without speaking. Your future mate
will come in and turn the egg when it is hot.
335. If someone tells you his right eye itches and you do
not pass the statement on, you will never marry . .
Western Kentucky
336. A quivering or twitching of the eye is a sign that
your lover is thinking of you.
337. Take an eyelash, name your lover, and then blow the
lash away. If you do not see the eyelash any more,
your sweetheart loves you.
338. Pull an eyelash out and hold it between the thumb
and the first finger. Let one person name the
thumb and another the finger. Open them. The
one that the eyelash sticks to has the name of the
one that loves you.
339. If you go to the joining place of three farms, you
will meet the person you are to marry . . Mountains
340. If you find a crooked feather in your hair, your hus-
band will be a humpback Mountains
341. If you crook your little finger while holding a cup,
you will never be married.
342. The number of times you can pop your fingers shows
the number of sweethearts that you will have
Central Kentucky
343. Anyone who can make the first and fourth fingers
touch over the backs of the others may marry any-
one he chooses.
344. If you can cross your forefinger and little finger over
your other fingers, you can get whom you please
and please whom you get.
345. Name a lighted fire. If it burns, the person named
loves you.
38
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
346. If you can make a good fire, you will make a good
husband or wife.
347. The man or woman that can not make a good fire
will not get a good wife or husband.
348. If your fire fails to burn, your lover is not busy.
349. If a fire that a girl makes goes out, her sweetheart is
thinking of her.
350. If a girl builds a good fire, her sweetheart loves her.
351. If the first of a family to marry marries well, the rest
will marry well, but if the first marriage is a poor
one the rest will be poor.
352. While you are fishing, name the worm. If you catch
a fish, your lover is true.
353. If a girl spills flour while she is baking, her husband
will be a drunkard.
354. In pinning a bouquet on, if you put the flowers ac-
cidentally upside down, you wish to be married.
355. If you wear a flower with the stem up, you are en-
gaged Blue Grass
356. When a boy wears a flower to school, he is hunting
a girl.
357. Certain crosses of stone, found in the Kentucky
mountains, are thought to have been tears shed by
the fairies when they learned of Christ's crucifixion.
The cross brings good luck, especially for lovers . .
Mountains
358. If two forks are placed at your plate, you will hear
of a wedding Mountains
359. If a woman gets two forks at her plate, she will have
two husbands.
360. If you have two forks at your plate, someone will
take your girl away from you Mountains
39
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
361. Put the web of a goose's foot into the beverage of a
girl whom you would have love you .... Mountains
362. If a child is held down by a hair across his nose, the
first word he says will be the first word he will say
after his marriage.
363. Pull a hair through the fingers. It will curl. In
whatever direction the hair points, your sweetheart
lives Western Kentucky
364. If a man to whom you give a hair from your head
holds it between his thumb and his first finger, the
first word he says will be the first word that he ut-
ters to his wife Mountains
365. A hair found in the heel of your stocking will have
the color of that of your future husband.
366. If you pull a hair out of a girl's head, she will love
you.
367. Pull a hair from the head of a boy whom you wish
to love you. If you bury his hair along with one of
yours, he will love you forever.
368. If you sew a lock of your hair in the hem of a bride's
dress, you will be married before a year has passed.
369. If you wear a lock of your sweetheart's hair in your
hat, he will love no other.
370. If someone takes the combings from the comb after
you have combed your hair, she will get your sweet-
heart.
371. To find a hairpin is a sign that you will find a lover.
372. When you find a hairpin, hang it up and name it a
color. The first boy you pass wearing a tie of this
color will be your husband Blue Grass
373. Hang up a hairpin which you have found and name
40
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
it for a friend. If anyone takes it before the
week-end, she takes the friend Blue Grass
374. If you wear in your shoe a hairpin which you have
found in the road, the first man you meet with a
red tie on will be your future husband.
375. If a girl finds a hairpin and keeps it six months, she
will have a proposal at the end of that time.
376. On Hallowe'en name an apple that hangs by a string.
If you can bite it, you are beloved by the person
that you have named.
377. On Hallowe'en, he who can bite an apple by bobbing
for it will marry.
378. If you walk in a grave-yard on Hallowe'en, you will
see your future husband or wife.
379. Look into a mirror at midnight on Hallowe'en to
see your intended.
380. On Hallowe'en look into a mirror on the cellar steps
to see the person that you are to marry.
381. Make a lover's knot of a handkerchief and pull the
ends. The end that stays in most tightly shows the
one that loves you the most Blue Grass
382. The accidental crossing of hands as four people shake
hands means that one of them will marry soon.
383. If four people cross hands, the youngest will marry
first.
384. If you have the letter M in your hand, you will marry
rich North-eastern Kentucky
385. If you hear a hawk calling, your sweetheart is near
Mountains
386. If a girl puts on a man's hat at night when she hears
a mocking-bird, she will marry that year and have
good luck North-eastern Kentucky
41
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
387. If you stand on your right heel and turn around
three times, you may find in the hole a hair like
that of your future mate Mountains
388. If anyone steps on the heel of your shoe, the person
doing this is trying to get your sweetheart.
389. If anyone steps on your heel, you will not be mar-
ried for seven years.
390. If you step upon a person's heel unwittingly, you
will dance at that person's wedding.
391. If you can turn a hoecake without breaking it, you
are ready to marry Mountains
392. Name two hog bristles on a hot shovel. If they turn
toward each other, the persons named will marry
each other.
393. Name holly leaves that you throw into the fire. The
one that pops first has the name of the one that
loves you best Mountains
394. The number of nails in a horseshoe which you pick
up will be the number of years before you will be
married Blue Grass
395. The number of years before you marry may be reck-
oned by the number of nails that remain in a horse-
shoe after you have thrown it over your left shoul-
der Blue Grass
396. Go to a deserted house at midnight and light a can-
dle; then place a pin in the candle. When the pin
falls out, your future husband will appear
Mountains
397. If you accidentally eat an insect, you will marry
within a year Mountains
398. If an insect lights on you, your sweetheart is talking
unkindly about you Mountains
42
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
399. If you kiss your sweetheart over the back gate, you
never will kiss him again.
400. An upsidedown kiss (that is, a kiss in which one leans
over the chair in which the other is seated) is un-
lucky.
401. If you kiss a girl on the nose, you will cause trouble
Western Kentucky
402. Never kiss a girl behind the ear; it brings bad luck
Northern Kentucky
403. Do not let your beau kiss you in a buggy, for horses
carry tails (tales).
404. If you find two knives at your seat, there will be a
wedding within a week.
405. If a man gets two knives at his plate, he is going to
have two wives.
406. If someone climbs a ladder and cannot go farther
count the number of steps ahead; that will be the
number of years until he marries.
407. Write the names of a boy and a girl. Strike out the
common letters. Name over the words "love" and
"marriage," on the remaining letters.
408. Write the names of a boy and of a girl. Strike out
the common letters. Name over the words, "love,"
"friendship," "hatred," "marriage," on the remain-
ing letters.
409. If you find a lilac blossom with five petals and swal-
low it, you can marry anyone that you desire. . . .
Western Kentucky
410. Put a love vine on a bush and name it. If it grows,
the person loves you Mountains
411. If you can tie a love vine, your sweetheart is think-
ing of you Mountains
43
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
412. A maid says, "If I'm not going to marry anybody,
knock, Death, knock." If she hears nothing she
says, "If I'm going to marry a young man, whistle,
bird, whistle!" If her appeal remains unanswered,
she says, "If I'm going to marry an old man, hoot,
owl, hoot !" Mountains
413. Burn a match on one end and hold the burnt end
down, catch it, and let the other end burn. If the
match does not break, your sweetheart loves you.
414. Name a lighted match. If it burns to the end with-
out breaking, the person loves you. If it breaks in
the middle, you will marry him.
415. Light a match and put the end of it on a stove or
something similar. When it burns out, the direc-
tion in which it falls is the direction of your lover
Mountains
416. If you find a four-leaved clover on May first, you
can get whatever you want .... Western Kentucky
417. If one goes fishing on the first day of May, the num-
ber of fish caught will be the number of sweethearts
one will have Mountains
418. Hold a mirror over a spring early in the morning of
the first of May; you will see your future sweet-
heart's face reflected in the water.
419. If on the first morning in May you take a mirror
and look down into a spring whose branch flows
east, you can see your fated husband or wife
Mountains
420. On the first day of May, if you lean over a well and
hold a mirror so that you can see the bottom of the
well in it, you will see your future lover's face.
421. On May first, look into an inverted mirror over a
44
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
well, to see your future husband or your casket; if
you see your casket, you will never marry at all.
422. On the first morning in May, if a girl goes out walk-
ing and finds a snail within its shell, she will marry
a man with a house. If she sees a snail crawling,
she will marry a man without a house.
423. If you find a snail on the first day of May, put it on
a plank in the sun; the letter it makes will be the
initial of your future husband's name.
424. If you find a snail before sunrise on May first, and
place it on a plate of flour or meal, it will write your
lover's name or initials.
425. If you look into a well on May Day you will see
either a coffin or the picture of the man you will
marry.
426. If on May Day at sunrise, you look into an open
well, you will see the reflection of your prospective
wife or husband.
427. Arise before breakfast without speaking a word on
the first day of May, get a bridle from the barn,
go to the spring, and say: "Here is a bridle; where
is the horse and rider?" Repeat this three times.
Then there will appear a man riding a horse with-
out a bridle. This will be your destined husband.
428. On the first morning of May, place a tumbler of
water in a window at the rising of the sun; let it
remain all day. At sunset, look into the water.
If you are to die an old maid or bachelor, a coffin
will appear in the water Blue Grass
429. If you walk around a wheat field on the first day of
May, you will meet your fate.
430. If you walk down steps backwards looking into a
45
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
mirror, you will see your prospective husband or
wife.
431. If you look at a mirror over someone else's shoulder,
you will get a sweetheart.
432. Sleep with a mirror under your pillow, to see your
future husband.
433. If you sleep with a mirror under your head for three
consecutive nights, on the third night you will
dream of the one you will marry.
434. If you count nine stars every night for nine nights
and put a mirror under your pillow the last night,
you will see in a dream the one that you are to
marry Mountains
435. Name one leaf each of mistletoe for a boy and a girl.
Place the leaves on a warm stove. If they hop
towards each other, the two will marry; if they do
not, there will be no marriage.
436. Put some mistletoe over a door. The first man that
walks under it will marry the daughter of the house.
437. Hang a bunch of mistletoe over a door ; the first per-
son of the opposite sex who pauses under it will be
your life partner.
438. On the first night of a new moon, take nine steps
backward; then reach behind you and pick up a
handful of grass or anything that happens to be
there, and put it under your pillow that night.
The next morning there will be a hair there the
color of your lover's hair.
439. "New moon, true moon,
Star in the stream,
Pray tell my fortune in my dream" .... Mountains
440. "New moon, true moon, a franklin free,
46
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
If he be a true lover, send him unto me.
May I know the color of his hair and of his eyes,
And whether he be witless or whether he be wise" .
Blue Grass
441. Look at a new moon over your left shoulder and
make this wish:
"New moon, new moon, let me see
Who my future husband is to be ;
The color of his hair,
The clothes he is to wear,
And the happy day he is to wed me"
Western Kentucky
442. Bend a mullein stalk in the direction of your sweet-
heart's home. If the stalk grows straight again,
he loves you.
443. White specks on the finger nails show the number of
presents you will receive.
444. If you have a white mark on your little finger nail,
you have a sweetheart.
445. You have as many sweethearts as there are white
spots on your finger nails.
446. If you cut your nails on Saturday, you will see your
sweetheart on Sunday.
447. If you cut your finger nails on Sunday, you will see
your sweetheart before Monday.
448. Cut your finger nails for nine straight Sundays. On
the ninth Sunday you will eat dinner with the one
you are going to marry.
449. If you cut your nails for nine Sundays, you will
marry whom you desire.
450. The first initial you pick up when eating noodle-soup
is the initial of your married partner.
47
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
451. If your nose bleeds, you are in love.
452. If there is an old maid in the family, there will be
one in the next generation.
453. If you eat onions on Saturday, you will not see your
sweetheart on Sunday.
454. Fortunes are told by palmistry.
455. Before retiring, place under your pillow slips con-
taining the names of three boys. Throw one slip
out when you get into bed and another the next
morning. The one left under the pillow will con-
tain the name of your destined mate.
456. Before you go to bed at night, put some water in a
pan, put each letter of the alphabet on a piece of
paper into it, and place it under the bed. The
next day the first letter on top shows the one you
will marry.
457. Write the names of admirers on slips of paper and
put them into a basin of water. The one that
comes to the top of the water first will contain the
name of the person that you will marry.
458. Write the names of three boys (or girls) on three
pieces of paper, wrap them in bread crumbs, and
drop them into a glass of water. The one that
rises to the top first you will marry.
459. Write on separate pieces of paper the names of
eleven boys, put these names into separate balls
of mud, and put also one blank piece into a ball.
Drop the balls into a bucket of water. The first
one containing a name that comes to the top you
will know to be the name of the person that you
are to marry. If the blank piece comes to the top,
you will not marry.
48
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
460. Write the names of certain persons on slips of paper,
roll them up, and drop them into a pan of water.
The slip that remains rolled up in the morning
contains the name of the one that you will marry.
461. If you do not touch the end of the sidewalk in your
walk, you will never be married Blue Grass
462. Put the first pea that you find over the door. The
first one who comes in, provided he is not a relative,
will be the one that you will marry .... Mountains
463. In order to learn when one will marry, let the indi-
vidual take a pea pod with nine peas in it and place
it over the door. The first person of the opposite
sex and unmarried who enters, the individual will
marry within that year Mountains
464. If the first letter from a boy to a girl happens to be
written with a pencil, they will not be married to
each other.
465. If a person eats pickles, he is in love.
466. If a girl in love craves pickles, her love is returned . ,
, Louisville Negroes
467. Your sweetheart will love you if you will sleep with
his photograph under your pillow.
468. If you bury the photograph of a person whom you
wish to love you, along with his hair, he will love
you.
469. If you eat the point of a piece of pie first, you will
be an old maid.
470. If a piece of pie is placed before you at the table with
the crust toward you, you will be an old maid
Western Kentucky
471. If you take the last piece of pie on a plate, you will
get a handsome husband or a beautiful wife.
49
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
472. Push the corners of a sofa-pillow in. Name each
corner. Strike the center of the pillow sharply
with your fist. The corners that remain crushed in
indicate which of the people love you.
473. If you pick up a pin pointed toward you, you will
see your sweetheart that day.
474. If you pick up a pin lying at an angle, you will be
kissed by your sweetheart Central Kentucky
475. If you pick up a pin with its side toward you, you
will see your sweetheart that day.
476. If a pin that is barely sticking into your dress is
struck on the saying of the letters of the alphabet,
the letter on which it falls out is the initial of your
intended.
477. If while you are trying on a dress, a pin is caught to
your petticoat, you will not marry that year
Blue Grass
478. Open all the doors and windows; stick nine pins in
a row in the floor; pour water over them. If a cat
comes in and licks up the water, and then if a man
dressed in white or a woman passes the door, you
will marry before you die. If a white coffin passes
in front of the door you will die unmarried.
479. After you have taken a newly made quilt from the
frame, toss a cat into it to make the quilt puff out.
The girl that the cat goes towards will be married
first Mountains
480. At a party throw a cat into the middle of a quilt.
The girl toward whom it goes will be an old maid.
481. If you can walk seven railroad rails without falling
off, you can marry anyone that you desire.
50
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
482. If you walk seven railroad rails without speaking,
you will marry the first man you meet.
483. After you have walked ten railroad rails, the first
girl you see with eyes of which the color is opposite
to your own will be your future wife.
484. If you walk eleven rails of a railroad track without
falling off, you will marry the first person of the
opposite sex whom you meet.
485. If you walk eighteen rails on a railroad track with-
out stepping off, you can get any man that you
wish.
486. Walk twenty-one rails of a railroad track. Under
the twenty-first will be a hair of the same color as
that of your destined husband or wife.
487. Count the number of drops of rain from a roof or the
like, to learn the number of years before you will
marry.
488. If it is raining, walk backward nine steps; then under
your heel you will find a hair. It will be the color
of the hair of the one that you will marry
Southern Kentucky
489. If it rains while the sun is shining, turn over a stone,
to find a hair the color of that of your destined
mate.
490. When you find sunshine, rain, and rainbow together,
look under a stone, to find a hair like that of your
wife or husband.
491. If anyone fails to recognize you, you will be married.
492. Put names of girls (or boys) in the corners and in
the middle of a rectangle. Let some one write on
the reverse side these words, "love," "hate,"
"court," "kiss," "marry."
51
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
493. If you throw a kiss to a redbird, he will take it to
your sweetheart.
494. If you see a redbird, you will see your sweetheart
soon.
495. To hear a redbird singing is a sure sign that you will
see your sweetheart before the end of the week ....
Western Kentucky
496. After you see a redbird, the next person that you
see will be your sweetheart.
497. If you eat nine redbuds in nine days, the ninth boy
or girl that you meet will be your fate . . Mountains
498. "Make a rhyme,
You'll see your fellow before half-past nine."
499. If you say something that rhymes or hear someone
else say it, kiss your hand, and you will see your
sweetheart in twenty-four hours.
,500. When you accidentally make a rhyme in talking,
count the words in the two rhyming lines. The re-
sulting number is the number of the letter of the
alphabet forming the initial letter of your destined
mate's last name.
501. After you have accidentally made a rhyme and ob-
tained the initial of your mate, count "first, last,"
to learn whether it is the initial of the Christian
name or of the surname.
502. To put on any one's engagement ring is a sure sign
that you will never have one of your own
Blue Grass
503. Put a ring on a horsehair and start it knocking. The
number of clear knocks denotes the year and the
unclear knocks the months and days before you will
be married.
52
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
504. Get a glass half full of water. Hold a gold ring
over it with a hair. As many times as the ring
strikes the glass, so many years will it be until you
marry.
505. Put a ring on your finger and think of a color. The
first man you meet with that color of tie on is your
future husband.
506. If you sleep in a ring that someone has given you,
you love that person better than God.
507. If you turn nine set rings and two signet rings, the
first man you meet wearing a tie the color of tKe
stone in the last ring turned will be your future
husband.
508. After you have turned ten signet rings and one dia-
mond ring, the first boy with a red tie on who tips
his hat or cap to you is your future husband.
509. Turn sixteen diamond rings and one signet ring.
The first person you meet and speak to thereafter
will be your future lover.
510. After you have turned nineteen signet rings, the first
boy you meet with a red necktie on you will marry.
511. Turn twenty rings on people's fingers, and notice
the color of the last stone. The next boy you see
with a tie on of that color is the boy that you will
marry.
512. After you have turned a hundred set rings, the boy
that you meet with a tie the color of the last stone
is your destined mate.
513. When you see the first robin of spring, sit down on
a rock, take off your left stocking, and if you find
a hair in it, your sweetheart will call to see you ....
Western Kentucky
53
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
514. If you run around the house three times and touch
the same rock every time, you will see your future
husband's hair Mountains
515. Take a rose petal and name your sweetheart. If you
can make it pop, he loves you Blue Grass
516. Wear the image of St. Joseph around your neck.
As he is the patron saint of marriage, you will
marry soon. The charm will not work unless the
image is given you.
517. One who turns salt over on the table will not marry
within a year.
518. Eat a thimbleful of salt and go to bed backwards
without drinking. You will dream of your sweet-
heart's handing you a drink.
519. Mix a teaspoonful of meal and a teaspoonful of
water, then fry the mixture on the shovel, and eat
it. Go to bed backwards. The person you dream
about is your future husband or wife . . . Mountains
520. To shiver without apparent cause is a sign that one
is in love.
521. It causes bad luck for a young man to give his sweet-
heart a pair of shoes, as she will walk away from
him Louisville Negroes
522. If at bed-time you place your shoes in the shape of
T and do not speak again before falling asleep,
you will see the one that you are to marry.
523. Sleep with your right shoe under your head for three
nights; on the last night you will dream of your
future husband or wife Mountains
524. Put your right shoe and stocking under your head
and say :
"My right shoe and stocking
54
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
I put under my head,
To dream to-night of whom I am to wed,
The color of his eyes, the color of his hair,
And his every day clothes I wish him to wear."
The one that you dream of will be your husband.
If you are not to marry, you will dream of a bur-
ial Mountains
525. If your shoe-string comes untied, your sweetheart is
thinking of you.
526. If your shoe-string comes untied, you are thinking
of your sweetheart Louisville Negro
527. If your shoe-string comes untied, your sweetheart is
angry with you Mountains
528. If your shoe-string comes untied, your girl loves you
Mountains
529. If your shoe-string comes untied and you step on it,
you will see your sweetheart that day. .Mountains
530. If your skirt turns up, your sweetheart is thinking
of you.
531. If the hem turns up when you put on your skirt, you
will have a new sweetheart soon.
532. If in walking, a girl's skirt catches on a branch of a
shrub or a bush, the number of limbs from the bot-
tom to where it catches is the number of the initial
letter of the beau's name whom she will "catch."
533. If a briar catches in your skirt, your beau still loves
you.
534. If a bramble catches on a girl's dress, a widower is in
love with her North-eastern Kentucky
535. If a briar catches your skirt, your sweetheart is
thinking of you.
55
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
536. Take a skirt, fold it, place it under your left arm,
walk backward to the bed, and repeat:
"This is Friday (or any other night) I go to bed
With my skirt under my head.
I'll dream of the living and the dead
And of the one I am to wed."
In silence place the skirt under the pillow, and as
you dream so shall it be Mountains
537. Three rings of smoke in one day are a sign of a
secret marriage Mountains
538. To see two snakes at once is a sign of a wedding. , ,
Mountains
539. To sneeze before breakfast is a sign that you will
see your sweetheart before Saturday night.
540. "Sneeze before you eat,
See your sweetheart before you sleep."
541. To sneeze three times in succession is a sign that you
will never be married.
542. A spider on the neck means that you have a secret
lover Western Kentucky
543. To spit on yourself is a sign that you will not be
married Mountains
544. If you spit on a piece of burning wood that falls
down and name it for your sweetheart when you
replace it, he will come before it burns out
Western Kentucky
545. If two spoons are accidentally put into a cup, a wed-
ding will result.
546. To drop a table-spoon is prophetic of your sweet-
heart's coming.
547. If a girl goes to a spring that she has never visited
before and puts a rock from the spring into the
56
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
hem of her dress, she \vill marry the first buy that
she crosses water with Southern Kentucky
548. Get a rock from a spring where you have never been
before; the one over whose head you can throw the
rock directly is the one that you will marry
Mountains
549. Kneel at a spring on any night at nine o'clock, with
your back to it and repeat:
"If I marry in the spring, let me hear a bird sing"
pause.
"If I marry in the fall, let me hear a cow bawl."-
pause.
"If I don't marry at all, let me hear my coffin
knock."
One of these requests will come true
Western Kentucky
550. The star under which a person is born influences his
life.
551. If a star falls, one of your family will be married
soon.
552. Name three stars in a row; the one you dream about
shows your fate Western Kentucky
553. If you see the morning star first over your right
shoulder for seven mornings in succession, you will
dream about your future husband or wife.
554. If you count seven stars for seven nights, the first
person of the opposite sex that you then shake
hands with will be your future husband or wife. ,
Mountains
555. Count seven stars each night for seven nights; on
the seventh night you will dream of your future
husband Western Kentucky
57
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
350. If you count nine stars fur nine nights, the first boy
you shake hands with will be the one that you will
marry Southern Kentucky
557. Count thirteen stars for thirteen nights. On the
thirteenth night, the person that you dream of is
your future wife or husband Blue Grass
558. If you steal something to eat and get caught, you
will beg after your marriage.
559. If you fall up steps, you will not marry that year.
560. If you bump into a stranger, you will marry some-
one whom you have never met Blue Grass
561. If you stumble up the steps, you will not be married
for seven years.
562. You can tell your fortune by naming the corners of
a lump of sugar just before putting it slowly into
your coffee Blue Grass
563. "Silent supper." Several girls make a fire and pre-
pare a supper together, not speaking, and always
walking backwards. They place a pan of water on
the doorstep and hang a towel near. They sit at
the table but do not eat anything. If these condi-
tions are observed, the future husbands of the girls
will come, wash, sit opposite them, and finally dis-
appear.
564. After you prepare your supper as in 563, leave it
and go ; then look back through a crack. You will
see your future husband at the table.
565. If anyone sweeps under you, you will never be mar-
ried.
566. If you sweep under anyone, you will never be mar-
ried.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
567. Burn nine different kinds of switches. When the last
one burns, your future husband will come in.
568. To sit on a table is a sign that you wish to marry.
569. "Sit on a table,
Marry when you are able."
570. If you sit on a kitchen table, you will never be mar-
ried.
571. The one that remains at table longest will be married
first.
572. If you sit on a table with a person of the opposite
sex, you will marry that person Blue Grass
573. If you sit on a table under a joist in the loft, you
will never be married Mountains
574. Fortunes may be told by interpreting the meaning
of the tea-leaves left in a cup.
575. The presence of tea-leaves in your teacup means that
you will receive a package in as many days as there
are tea-leaves Blue Grass
576. Put the tea leaves from your cup of tea on the back
of your hand and slap it with the other hand. If
they fall from the hand with one blow, you will
marry within the year. If not, the number of blows
it takes to remove the leaves indicates the number
of years which will elapse before your marriage . . .
Blue Grass
577. If your thread knots while you are sewing, name it
for your sweetheart. If he loves you, it will come
untied.
578. If your thread tangles, your sweetheart is thinking
of you.
579. If your thread knots while you are making a gar-
ment, you will marry before it wears out.
59
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
580. If you can blow all the seeds from a thistle-ball at
one blow, you will succeed in your undertakings.
581. If you can blow all the seeds off a thistle-ball, your
sweetheart loves you.
582. If a toad hops across the road in front of you, you
will see your lover.
583. Follow this receipt to make love powders :
Catch a toad, put it under a rock, and let it starve
to death. After it has dried thoroughly, beat it
into a powder, and sprinkle this powder on the per-
son whom you wish to fall in love with you.
584. If your great toe itches, you have a dear lover
Mountains
585. If you stump your toe and kiss your thumb at the
same time, you will see your lover.
"Stump your toe,
Kiss your thumb,
And see your beau."
586. A man whose second toe is longer than his great toe
will be henpecked. (Compare 1004.)
587. When two persons tie their toes together and the
string breaks, the one with the shorter string will
marry first.
588. If two persons tie their great toes together, they will
marry the first persons of the opposite sex with
whom they shake hands.
589. If you peel a stick toothbrush, you will offend your
lover Southern Kentucky
590. If when two people are walking together they pass
on opposite sides of a tree, post, or other obstacle
on the way, they will never marry each other.
591. When you see a turkey-buzzard sailing, say:
60
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
"Sail, sail, lonesome turkey-buzzard.
Sail to the east, sail to the west;
Sail to the one that I love best.
Flap your wings before you fly out of sight,
That I may see my sweetheart before Saturday
night" Blue Grass
592. Count the number of turkey-buzzards that you see
flying. The number will be the number of years
that you will live.
593. If you find twin peaches, apples, cucumbers, or the
like, you will be married soon. . Southern Kentucky
594. If you find a twin berry or fruit, sleep with it under
your pillow. The one that you dream of will be
your husband or wife Western Kentucky
595. If you can tie the tying-vine into a lover's knot, you
can get any one that you desire as married part-
ner Mountains
596. If you raise an umbrella in the house, you will not
be married.
597. If a girl wears a wasp nest in her clothing, her lover
will love her more deeply Blue Grass
598. Go to a deserted house, drop a ball of yarn, and
wind it as you walk around the house, saying, "I
wind, who holds?" Before you have completed the
circuit, something or someone will catch the yarn
and in some way disclose your future mate
Mountains
599. If you spill water while you are drinking, your sweet-
heart is thinking of you. .North-eastern Kentucky
600. Dip a stick into water. It it drops fewer than five
drops of water, your sweetheart loves you
Mountains
61
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
601. If you put your finger into a saucer of clean water,
you will marry a young man ; into an empty saucer,
you will be an old maid; into a saucer of soapy
water, you will marry a widower Mountains
602. Sleep on wedding cake; the person dreamed of is
your destined mate.
603. If you sleep on a piece of wedding cake three nights
and dream of the same person, you will marry him,
604. Sleep on a piece of wedding cake. Have six names
and the word "stranger" on seven slips of paper.
Take one out each morning. The one left shows
your fortune.
605. If you wear a wedding veil in a play, you will never
be married.
606. If a bride wears something of yours, you will have
a proposal within a year.
607. If a sister of the bride wears the bride's garter, she
will be the next one to be married in that family,
608. If you look into a well at midnight, you will see your
future husband.
609. Tut your handkerchief on the growing wheat at
night. In the morning arise and get the handker-
chief before sunrise. On it you will find the ini-
tials of the man or woman that you will marry. . .
Southern Kentucky
610. If you are caught in a whirlwind, you will receive
an invitation to a wedding.
611. When two people break a wish-bone between them,
the one that gets the shorter piece will marry first,
and the one that gets the longer one will obtain
whatever wish he may have made.
612. When two people pull a breastbone of a chicken, the
62
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
one getting the shorter piece will marry first, but
the other will be rich.
613. When two people break a wish-bone of a chicken, the
one that gets the shorter piece will marry first, and
the one that gets the longer piece will have the bet-
ter dinner Blue Grass
614. A sprig of yarrow is a good love charm.
615. If you marry young, you will have trouble in the
future.
MAKEIAGE
616. "Marry when the year is new,
You will always be loving, kind, and true."
617. Marriage and the months:
"January, always poor.
February, wed once more.
March, splendid catch.
April, happy match.
May, turn to hate.
June, enviable fate.
July, poorly mated.
August, better have waited.
September, very wealthy.
October, extremely healthy.
November, quick undoing.
December, Cupid's wooing."
618. Do not marry in March, unless on the twenty-
seventh.
619. The months of April, June, and October are for-
tunate months for a wedding Blue Grass
63
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
620. May is a bad month for a marriage, especially the
fourteenth of May.
621. If you marry in June, your husband will be good to
you Mountains
622. June is the month of love and marriage.
623. "Marry when June roses blow,
Over land and sea you'll go" Mountains
624. It brings bad luck to marry on the last day of the
year.
625. "Married on Monday, married for health,
Married on Tuesday, married for wealth.
Married on Wednesday, the best day of all.
Married on Thursday, married for losses.
Married on Friday, married for crosses.
Married on Saturday, no luck at all."
626. Thursday is a fortunate day on which to be married
Mountains
627. Saturday is now a favorite day on which to be mar-
ried.
628. To postpone a wedding causes bad luck.
629. "Married in gray, you'll go far away.
Married in black, you'll wish yourself back.
Married in brown, you'll live out of town.
Married in red, you'll wish yourself dead.
Married in pearl, you'll live in a whirl.
Married in green, ashamed to be seen.
Married in yellow, jealous of your fellow.
Married in blue, he'll always be true.
Married in pink, your spirits will sink.
Married in white, you have chosen right."
630. "If you marry in blue, your love will be true."
64
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
631. "If you marry in green,
You'll always be seen."
632. "If you marry in yellow,
You'll get another fellow."
633. It is considered unlucky for the bride to wear red,
yellow, or green.
634. Blue and white are considered lucky colors for a
bride.
635. If a bride wears a pearl, she will shed tears.
636. If you marry in red, your husband will die.
637. A bad dream on the eve of her wedding is unlucky
for a bride Central Kentucky
638. A bride must not ride a horse to a wedding nor a
bride-groom a mare Central Kentucky
639. A bride should not ride a gray steed by no means
a gray horse and not even a gray mare
Central Kentucky
640. A bride should ride a black mare to the wedding
rather than any other steed Central Kentucky
641. To go through a spider web brings good luck to a
bride.
642. The bride who finds a spider on her wedding dress
may consider herself blessed.
643. The bride who marries on a rainy day will have a
stormy married life.
644. Rain on the wedding day means just as many tears
for the bride.
645. If it rains on your wedding day, you will have to
scratch for your living Southern Kentucky
646. "Happy is the bride the sun shines on,
Tears for the bride the rain falls on."
65
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
647. If rain falls on the wedding day, the bride will be a
bad housekeeper Mountains
648. An especially bad thunderstorm during a wedding
means an unhappy married life.
649. If it rains on your wedding night, you will shed as
many tears as there are drops of rain
Louisville Negroes
650. If it rains the day before your wedding day, the
bridegroom will weep as many tears as there are
raindrops.
651. Rain on the day after marriage means many sorrows
for the bride Negroes
652. Snow falling on the wedding day is a prophecy of
great happiness.
653. Snow on the wedding day brings money.
654. The marriage will be unhappy if the bride is seen by
her fiance an hour before the wedding.
655. It brings good luck for a bride to weep on her wed-
ding day.
656. It is lucky to be married in the full of the moon. . .
Western Kentucky
657. A bride must not see the groom on her wedding day
until the wedding.
658. If a bride-to-be gets to the altar before the groom,
the love is mostly on the bride's side.
659. It brings bad luck to have peacock feathers in a room
when a wedding takes place.
660. If a bat flies into a church during a wedding cere-
mony, very bad luck will follow.
661. A bride should wear "something old, something new,
something borrowed, something blue, and a four-
leaved clover in the heel of her shoe."
66
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
662. Money in the heel of the bride's left shoe insures
wealth.
663. If a bride goes to the altar with salt in her pocket,
she will always be happy Blue Grass
664. It brings good luck for a bride to carry another
bride's handkerchief.
665. If the bridegroom carries a miniature horseshoe in
his pocket, he will always have good luck.
666. Orange blossoms in wedding decoration or worn by
the bride bring good luck.
667. It brings bad luck for a bride to make her own
clothes Western Kentucky
668. It causes bad luck for the bride's dress to be seen on
her until the night of the wedding.
669. A bride should not show her veil to anyone outside
of her family, and she should especially not try it
on before anyone.
670. To get the wedding veil torn accidentally is the best
of luck to the bride.
671. A touch of blood on the bride's dress indicates bad
luck.
672. If you prick your finger when sewing on a wedding
dress, so that a drop of blood falls on it, the bride
will never be married.
673. If while the trousseau is being made a needle is
broken, this accident is ominous for the bride.
674. It causes bad luck for a bride to look into a mirror
as the last act before marriage.
675. If a bride breaks a mirror, seven years of bad luck
are in store for her.
676. Do not have a mirror in a room in which a wedding
67
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
takes place, for the first unmarried woman who
sees her image in it will die soon
North-eastern Kentucky
677. The position before a mirror is unlucky for the mar-
ried pair Blue Grass
678. It is lucky for a wedding pair to stand on a white
fur rug Western Kentucky
679. It is unlucky for a wedding pair to stand so as to face
across the boards of the floor Blue Grass
680. If a padlock is locked as a couple are pronounced
man and wife, they will separate.
681. If you marry as the hand of the clock goes up, you
will rise in the world.
682. If you marry as the hand of the clock goes down,
you will not succeed in the world.
683. Marry young, you marry trouble.
684. To drop the wedding ring in the service is unlucky.
685. If a physician witnesses a wedding, someone present
will die within a year.
686. It causes good luck for the family cat to be present
at a wedding Mountains
687. The throwing of an old shoe after the wedded pair
averts bad luck and malevolent influences.
688. The throwing of rice after a couple increases the
probability of their having children.
689. "A change of name but not of letter
Is a change for the worse and not for the better."
690. A bride should remove her wedding ring to put it
back on before leaving the church and then never
take it off again.
691. Do not give a bride gold Central Kentucky
68
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
692. The bride's bunch of roses is caught by the one who
will be the next to marry.
693. The wedding cake contains certain articles which are
symbolic. These articles are a ring, a needle or
thimble, bachelor's buttons, a coin, a pen, a wish-
bone, a four-leaved clover. These articles are cut
from the cake.
694. If you lend something to a bride or a groom, you will
yourself be married the next year.
695. To find anything belonging to a bride means good
luck.
696. Kiss the bride for good luck.
697. If you kiss a bride after the ceremony has taken place
and before the newly-made husband has a chance
to kiss her, you will have good luck throughout
the year.
698. If a newly-married couple both think of the same
person on their wedding day, that person will be
the first one to visit them Western Kentucky
699. At an older sister's wedding the younger sister
should dance without shoes. Otherwise there will
be bad luck.
700. If a bridesmaid goes to bed backward with her hand
over her heart, she will be married before the year
is out, provided the first man she sees in the morn-
ing is an old one.
701. It brings bad luck for the bride and a bridegroom to
part the day they are married.
702. The loss of a wedding ring is thought a prediction of
a calamity.
"As the wedding ring wears,
So wear away life's cares."
69
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
To lose a wedding ring within the first month of
marriage augurs great misfortune.
703. It indicates bad luck for a bride to stumble at her
husband's door.
704. A bride who steps on the threshold of her new
home when entering it for the first time will never
have a happy married life.
705. If a newly wedded pair take a little meat and a lit-
tle meal into the house, they will never want
Mountains
706. Of a couple newly married, the first one in bed will
be the first one to die Mountains
707. There will be no good luck for the bride until the
wedding clothes are worn out.
DEATH AND BURIAL
708. If you play at having funerals, one of you will die
Mountains
709. If you wear anyone's mourning gown or wrap, there
will be a death in your family.
710. It is bad luck to put on or try on a mourning veil,
for you will have disaster.
711. Do not put the clothes of a living person on a corpse.
It means death Blue Grass
712. If you give a pin to go on a corpse, you will be the
next to die Western Kentucky
713. After a death in the family, you should not sing or
play any kind of music Mountains
714. If you see a star fall, expect a death in the family. .
Blue Grass
715. If you count the stars, you will die. If lying on
70
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
your back, you count the stars, you will die
Southern Kentucky
716. To see a shooting star is a death sign. . . .Mountains
717. If you shiver without apparent cause, death has
touched you North-eastern Kentucky
718. When you shudder involuntarily, it is a sign that
someone is walking over your grave (the ground
where your grave will be) Central Kentucky
719. A noise as of someone throwing down wood is a sign
of death Blue Grass
720. If large drops of rain fall, there is a death somewhere,
721. A storm precedes or follows the death of a very old
person Central Kentucky
722. He who kills a man will die with his boots on, that is,
die a violent death Blue Grass
723. If a man kills another and dies a natural death, the
killing was justified Blue Grass
724. If a sick person picks and catches at the bed cover-
ing, he will die.
725. It is a sign that a death will occur in the family, if
you grieve over the death of a pet
Southern Kentucky
726. The last person whose name a dying man calls will
be the next one to die Mountains
727. If a person just before death calls the name of some-
one in the family, that person will be the next in
the family to die.
728. Death leaves the door open, that is, one death in the
family will be followed by another soon.
729. If a person dies, his picture will fade
North-eastern Kentucky
71
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
730. If a person is killed or dies a hard death, his spirit is
seen Central Kentucky
731. If a man dies hard, he will go to hell. . . .Mountains
732. It brings bad luck to take money off a dead person's
eye Mountains
733. If you are ever cut with a razor that has shaved the
dead, you will die Mountains
734. It brings good luck to wear a bullet which has gone
through a dead body Mountains
735. If you touch a corpse, you will not be afraid of dead
people Mountains
736. If you touch a dead person, you will never dream of
him Blue Grass
737. If you touch the body of a dead person, you will
never worry about him.
738. No person who touches a dead body will be haunted
by its spirit.
739. If you touch a corpse, you will be rid of the fear of
death.
740. Sailors will not touch a dead body.
741. Put a lock of hair of a corpse into a hole in a tree to
localize the spirit. If you remove the hair, the
spirit will haunt you.
742. All portraits in a room where there is a corpse should
be turned to the wall, for otherwise a near relative
of the deceased will die shortly.
743. You will be unlucky if you see a corpse in a mirror.
Cover the mirror at the time of a death.
744. Stop the clock in the room where a death occurs, to
avert bad luck.
745. If a corpse's nose bleeds, it is a sign that the mur-
derer is in the room.
72
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS.
746. If the body of a corpse does not become stiff, expect
another death in the family Negroes
747. If a corpse gets stiff and then limber, there will be
another death in the family Negroes
748. If a corpse has a limber neck, this circumstance is
the sign of another death in the family soon.
749. The will o' the wisp indicates the proximity of a
corpse.
750. Never allow the coffin containing a corpse to pass
through any other room than the one in which it
has been lying. It may, however, pass through a
hall.
751. If a corpse is carried from one house to another,
death will occur in the second house within a year.
752. In taking a casket from a house, be sure to take the
foot of it out first Western Kentucky
753. It is unlucky to pass in front of a casket.
754. It brings bad luck to lock the door after a funeral
procession has passed out.
755. If a vehicle that is to carry away a corpse stops in
front of your house, someone in the family will die.
756. If you see your reflection in the glass of the hearse,
you will be the next one to be carried in it.
757. It causes bad luck to point your finger at a funeral
procession.
758. It brings bad luck to cross a funeral procession un-
less you turn your back on it.
759. It brings bad luck to count the vehicles in a funeral
procession.
760. If a horse becomes frightened or unruly in a funeral
procession, one of the family will die before the
year is out.
73
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
761. It causes bad luck for a horse to balk in a funeral
procession.
762. If a black cat crosses in front of a funeral proces-
sion, there will be a death in the family of the corpse
within three days.
763. It brings bad luck, if on your way to a funeral you
meet a lizard.
764. A thunderstorm during a funeral means that the soul
will go down.
765. Very bad luck will follow if a street-car runs into or
even grazes a hearse. This occurrence is a sure
sign that someone will be injured before the end
of the trip.
766. If you point toward a grave-yard, your finger will
drop off.
767. It causes bad luck to visit a grave-yard after dark.
768. It brings bad luck for one to go through a cemetery
at midnight.
769. If you walk over a grave, your grandmother will die.
770. You will have bad luck if you walk in a funeral
vault Blue Grass
771. To meet a red-headed negro in a grave-yard brings
good luck.
772. It brings bad luck to leave the grave-yard before the
body is buried Mountains
773. It causes bad luck to take anything away from a
cemetery Mountains
774. If you step over a grave, you will be the next one
buried in that cemetery Mountains
775. If one of a family dies and his grave is started but
not finished, the number of times it is started but
74,
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
not completed will mark the number of those who
will die within that family in one year . . Mountains
776. If you dig a grave and leave it open, or if rain falls
into it, there will come bad luck to a member of
your family.
777. Dig a grave only on the burial day, because a grave
left open over night will cause another death
Blue Grass Negroes
778. To bury a corpse with the feet toward the sunset is
a sign that the soul will be lost at the Resurrec-
tion Mountains
779. Bury the body so that it will face the east.
780. If a turtle-dove flies upward after a death, the soul
of the deceased will go to heaven Mountains
781. If you are buried on a rainy day, you will go to
heaven.
782. Thunder after a funeral shows that the spirit of the
deceased has gone to heaven Mountains
THE HUMAN BODY
783. If you touch the beauty spot on your face, you will
go abroad. Compare the Divination sign that if
you can touch the beauty spot with your finger
your sweetheart loves you.
784. You will have bad luck if you lie on your face at
night Western Kentucky
785. If your face burns, some one is thinking of you
Mountains
786. The number of wrinkles in the forehead shows the
number of children you will have Mountains
787. If you join your hands behind your head, someone in
your family will be ill or will die Blue Grass
75
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
788. When your nose itches, someone is coming. Rub it
on wood, to make the arrival certain.
789. If the nose itches, someone is coming to be waited
on.
790. If the right side of the nose itches, a man is coming;
if the left, a woman; if the end of the nose itches,
someone will come riding.
791. If your nose itches on the end, expect a negro.
792. If the right side of your nose itches, your sweetheart
is coming.
793. "If your nose itches,
Somebody is coming with a hole in his breeches"
Western Kentucky
794. If your nose itches, you will quarrel with someone.
795. "If your nose itches,
Kiss a fool, meet a stranger,
Fall in love or be in danger."
796. If your nose itches when you are away from home,
you may know you are wanted at home
Western Kentucky
797. An itching nose is the sign of money Mountains
798. People with pointed noses interfere with the affairs
of others.
799. If your right ear burns or is red, someone is talking
well about you.
800. If your left ear burns or is red, someone is speaking
ill of you.
801. If the right ear burns, pull it nine times up, saying,
"Talk up."
If the left ear burns, pull it nine times down, saying,
"Talk down."
76
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
802. If either ear burns, moisten the fingers, touch the
ear, and repeat these words:
"Talk good, talk bad. If it's good, may good be-
tide you. If it's bad, may the devil ride you."
803. If your right ear burns, a man is talking about you
Mountains
804. If your left ear burns, a woman is talking about you
Mountains
805. If your ear burns, someone is talking about you.
Put saliva on it and it will stop burning if the re-
marks are kind; it will not stop burning if the re-
marks are unkind Blue Grass
806. "Itching ear, a secret you'll hear."
807. As to the ear's burning
"If left or right,
Good at night."
808. A burning ear is the sign of someone's talking about
you. Spit on it, and you will outwit the talker. ,
Mountains
809. If your right ear itches, a boy is going to tell you a
secret Central Kentucky
810. If your left ear itches, a girl will tell you a secret. . .
Central Kentucky
811. A ringing in the ear foretells a death in the family.
It is called the death bell.
812. Small ears are marks of stinginess.
813. Large ears signify generosity.
814. Small ears set tight to the head indicate a mean,
roguish disposition.
815. If the ear is thin and angular, the owner is bad-
tempered and cruel.
77
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
816. If the ear is long and hangs down, the possesser will
have long life.
817. If you can see the sunshine through a man's ears, he
is a rascal.
818. If your right eye itches, you will get a letter.
819. If the right eye itches, you will see something pleas-
ant.
820. If your right eye itches, you will get money.
821. It indicates bad luck for the right eye to itch
Mountains
822. "Itching left eye,
Sign you'll cry."
823. It indicates good luck for the left eye to itch
Mountains
824. If your eye jerks, you may expect to see someone un-
expectedly Blue Grass
825. If your right eye twitches, you will cry.
826. If your eye bats, you will get a whipping . Blue Grass
827. Clear eyes are the sign of a clear conscience.
828. Put jimson-weed juice in your eye, to make light
eyes turn dark.
829. When a large part of the white of a negro's eye
shows, you may know that you have to do with a
mean negro.
830. It brings bad luck to you, to see a cross-eyed person.
831. Avert the bad luck produced by the sight of a cross-
eyed person by crossing your fingers.
832. To avert the bad luck that comes at the sight of a
cross-eyed person, cross your fingers and spit over
the cross.
833. You will have bad luck if you see a cross-eyed negro.
834. If the first woman you meet in the morning is either
78
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
cross-eyed or has red hair, you will have bad luck
that day Western Kentucky
835. Heavy eye-brows that meet signify a deep mind on
the part of the possessor.
836. If your eye-brows meet, you will be rich.
837. A person whose eye-brows meet cannot be trusted.
838. If your eye-brows grow together across your nose,
you will become a murderer.
839. Anyone whose eye-brows grow in a straight line
across the forehead possesses a fiendish disposition.
840. If the eye-brows meet, the person has a jealous na-
ture.
841. If you cut your eye-lashes, you will be able to see
the wind Louisville Negroes
842. The "evil eye" is supposed to have malevolent power.
843. A coral or jet hand with fingers clenched will keep
off the disaster threatened by an "evil eye"
Blue Grass
844. A dimple in your chin is a sign that Cupid has
touched you.
"A dimple in your chin,
Many lovers you shall win."
845. Beware of the girl with a dimple in her chin.
846. Place the hand over the mouth when you are yawn-
ing, to keep the evil spirits from entering.
847. A large-mouthed girl has a large womb . . Mountains
848. A fever blister is a sign that you have been kissed.
849. If your lip itches, you will kiss an older person.
850. When the upper lip itches, it will be kissed by a tall
person North-eastern Kentucky
851. When the lower lip itches, it will be kissed by a short
person North-eastern Kentucky
79
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
852. If your lip itches, some one is coming with a mus-
tache.
853. If you bite the apple off to use as bait in a dead fall,
you will catch a rabbit.
854. A blister or sore place on your tongue is a sign that
you have told a lie.
855. If you bite your tongue in speaking, the next state-
ment probably would have been a lie
Southern Kentucky
856. It causes bad luck to count your teeth.
857. If you throw away a tooth and an animal finds it,
your new tooth will be like a tooth of that animal.
858. If a dog steps on your pulled tooth, you will have a
dog tooth.
859. If you do not put your tongue into the place of a
vacant tooth, a gold tooth will grow there.
860. If you lose a tooth and put your tongue into the
cavity, you will not have a tooth to come in.
861. After a tooth is pulled, if you will swallow a bubble
from milk, a gold tooth will come.
862. When the juice stays in one's teeth after he chews
tobacco, good luck will follow Mountains
863. If you put a tooth that has been pulled under your
pillow on the same night, you will have good luck.
864. It brings good luck to carry a back jaw-tooth from
the upper right side of the mouth Mountains
865. If your teeth grow wide apart, you will be a traveler,
866. Teeth far apart in front are a sign of the owner's
being separated from home and friends.
867. You will have good luck, if you carry your wisdom
tooth with you Blue Grass
80
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
868. If you cut your wisdom teeth before you are twenty
years old, you will not live long Mountains
869. Some people cut three sets of teeth.
870. If you comb your hair after night-fall, you will get
a whipping.
871. To comb hair after dark brings sorrow to the heart.
872. If you comb your hair at night, you will dream of the
devil Mountains
873. To comb your hair after sunset will make you for-
getful Southern Kentucky
874. If two people comb each other's hair, the mother of
the younger will die.
875. If two people comb anyone's hair at the same time,
the younger of the two will die.
876. If you let two persons comb your hair at the same
time, you will die.
877. If someone begins to comb your hair and you finish
the process yourself, bad luck will ensue
Central Kentucky
878. If you comb your hair with a comb in which someone
else has left some hairs, you will die before she
does Central Kentucky
879. It causes bad luck to comb your hair in front of a
looking-glass at night.
880. If you bury the combings of your hair under running
water, your hair will grow as rapidly as the stream
runs Mountains
881. If a bright flame is produced from the combings of
your hair thrown into the fire, you will have good
health.
882. If the fire smoulders after you throw your hair into
it, your death is approaching.
81
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
883. Wrap the palate lock on the crown of the head, to
keep the palate from falling.
884. Tangles in your hair show that witches have been
riding you.
885. Tangles in your hair show that the rats have slept
in it Mountains
886. If your hair is ruffled, mice have been playing in it , .
Blue Grass
887. To find a hair in the mouth is a sign that you will
kiss a fool.
888. If you hold a lock of your lover's hair, he will always
be true to you.
889. If you plant some of your hair in the ground and it
grows, you will die .... Central Kentucky Negroes
890. You will have good luck, if you rub your hands
through the hair of a negro.
891. If a straight-haired negro's head is touched by a
kinky-haired one, the hair of one of them will come
out Louisville Negroes
892. If you cut a lock of your hair out and put it under
a rock, it will bring you good luck Mountains
893. Your hair will grow well if when it is cut you place
some of it under a rock.
894. If a grandmother takes a lock of a little girl's hair
and fastens it in the bark of a tree in her orchard,
the child's hair will grow to be as long as the height
at which the hair is fastened .... Central Kentucky
895. Place a lock of your enemy's hair in running water,
to make him lose his mind .... Blue Grass Negroes
896. If you place a lock of your enemy's hair under your
doorstep, he will be unable to keep away from your
home Blue Grass Negroes
82
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
897. To find a feather in your head is a sign that you will
get a whipping Mountains
898. If a feather is in your hair, there is a letter in the
Post Office for you.
899. If you pull out a white hair, two or three or ten will
grow in its place (according to various versions of
this superstition).
900. If your head itches, you already have company
Mountains
901. To test a girl's disposition, stretch a strand of her
hair. If it curls up, she is high-tempered. The
tighter the curl, the worse is her temper
Central Kentucky
902. A negro with fine, straight hair is sure to be vicious
Central Kentucky
903. Men with fine, light hair are intelligent and con-
ceited. If they do not marry until late in life, they
are likely to be selfish.
904. Men with fine brown hair, light or dark, make the
best husbands. They are quick, thoughtful, and
less likely to be selfish than extremely light-haired
or extremely dark-haired men.
905. Men whose hair turns gray prematurely are nearly
always good fellows. They are nervous, but are
brainy, sympathetic, and honorable.
906. Women with pale blond hair, or the ashy kind, are
impulsive, loving, fickle. They can not be depend-
ed on, but they make good companions.
9Q7. Women with dark brown hair are very loyal. They
are full of sentiment and easily affected. They en-
joy keenly and suffer in proportion.
908. Women with fine black hair are highly strung.
83
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
Those with coarse black hair are nearly always ill-
tempered.
909. All women with dark hair are more tempestuous than
those with light hair. The dark eyes and complex-
ions that go with dark hair denote strong feeling.
Dark-haired women are more faithful than light-
haired women.
910. If a woman's hair grows in a widow's peak on the
forehead, she is a woman of charm
Central Kentucky
911. Red hair is a sign of a fiery temper.
912. A person's hair may turn white from fright.
918. If you have two crowns, you will live under two
governments.
914. If you have a double crown, you will not live long. . .
Blue Grass
915. To make yourself think clearly, put something on
your head; for example, a ring or a bracelet.
916. A hair on your shoulder is the sign of a letter
Western Kentucky
917. A wart on the neck shows that you will be hanged. .
Mountains
918. If the left palm itches, you will receive money.
919. When the palm itches,
"Scratch it on wood,
It's sure to come good."
920. Cold hands mean a warm heart.
921. Put the hand of a sleeper into water. He will then
tell his secrets or the name of his sweetheart.
922. If you put the hands of a sleeping person into muddy
water, he will answer any question that you ask him,
923. Hold your hands down awhile; if you have had
84
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
measles, you can see the marks in your hands
Mountains
924. If four people accidentally cross their hands in shak-
ing hands, they will have good luck.
925. If the hair on the back of your hands grows long,
you will be rich.
926. Back-handed writing shows a sly nature.
927. It brings bad luck to put a worm on a hook with the
left hand Mountains
928. If you wear a thimble on the left hand, you will be
an old maid North-eastern Kentucky
929. It causes bad luck to shake hands with your left hand.
930. A left-handed person owes three days' work to the
Devil.
931. A left-handed person owes the Devil a thousand rails
Mountains
932. If your right hand itches, you will shake hands with
a stranger.
933. An itching of the right hand indicates that you will
shake hands with an old friend.
934. If your right hand itches, you will get a letter.
935. If the palm of your hand itches, a caller is coming.
936. If you stick your finger with a pin, you will be disap-
pointed.
937. When you join your two hands, if you place your
right thumb over the left, you will rule your mar-
ried partner.
938. If the left thumb is placed over the right, when you
join your two hands, you will be ruled by your
married partner.
939. He who clenches his thumb within his fist is a coward.
940. Long thumbs indicate a stubborn disposition.
85
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
941. If your thumbs turn back at the end, you will not be
able to save money.
942. "Wide thumbs will spin gold," that is, make or earn
gold.
943. If you can see between your fingers, you are a spend-
thrift.
944. If your finger-prints make impressions of circular
or approximately circular lines, you will be a
money-saver.
945. If your finger-prints make impressions that sweep
out and do not make circles, you will be a money-
waster.
946. A woman with short fingers will be a good manager.
947. Crooked fingers show that one's ancestors were la-
borers.
948. A person with long fingers will not have to scratch
for a living.
949. A man with long fingers is grasping.
950. A person with short fingers will have a good living.
951. If you can make your first and fourth fingers meet
back of your hand without holding them you will
rule your married partner.
952. If you can make your first and fourth fingers meet
in front, you will rule your home.
953. The spreading out of hands and fingers in a gesture
indicates a broad and generous mind.
954. If your little finger is crooked, you are a crook.
955. Hands clenched and not open are indicative of a
mean and grasping disposition.
956. If a person wears a ring on the middle finger of each
hand, he will have bad luck.
957. If you bite your finger-nails, you will not grow tall.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
958. If you cut the nails of a sick person, he will die.
959. If your finger-nails have half-moons at the bottom
end, you are of good stock.
A half -moon on each finger-nail shows that you are
of good blood.
960. If your finger-nails are ridged, you will have a short
life.
961. If your finger-nails are deep down in your fingers,
you will be rich.
962. Long finger-nails are a sign of a long life . Blue Grass
963. People with short finger-nails are tale-bearers.
964. If your finger-nails do not taper at the end, you will
have to work for your living.
965. If there is a white spot on your finger-nail, you are
to receive a present.
966. White spots on the nails counting from thumb to
little finger, indicate, "Friends, foes, presents,
beaux, journeys to go."
967. White spots on your finger-nails show that you tell
lies.
968. If a sick person in bed cuts his nails, he will not get
well until his nails grow out. 5
969. Leather worn on the wrist will make you strong.
970. If you kiss your elbow, you will change your sex.
971. A pointed elbow is the sign of a sour disposition. . . .
Central Kentucky
972. If you strike your "crazy bone," you may know that
two ladies are coming.
973. If you measure yourself, a member of the family will
die before a year is over.
5 For significance of the days that you pare your nails, see Days and Seasons.
87
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
974. If your back aches, you are going (or deserve) to get
a whipping.
975. If a woman who is menstruating touches a barrel of
sour-krout, it will spoil Mountains
976. If you attend to a call of nature in the road, you will
have a boil on your posterior part Mountains
977. To avert the penalty involved in the last superstition,
spit on the refuse Mountains
978. To lie on the right side brings good luck.
979. Every time you sigh, a drop of blood falls from the
heart.
980. If a chain of shingles meets in a continuous sore, you
will die. (Shingles really follow a nerve.)
981. If your left foot itches, you will soon walk on the
ground that you later will be buried in . . Mountains
982. If your left foot iches, you will walk where you are
not welcome.
983. If your right foot itches, you will walk on strange
ground.
984. If the bottom of the foot itches, you will step on
strange ground.
985. It brings bad luck to stump the toe of the left foot.
986. To avert the bad luck incident to stumping the left
foot, you must go back and start over.
987. The bad luck incident to stumping the left foot may
be averted by turning around.
988. It is lucky to stump the right foot.
989. It causes bad luck to stump your toe.
990. You can avert this bad luck incident to stumping
your toe if you kiss your thumb.
991. If you stump your toe, it brings bad luck unless you
88
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
go back over the same place without stumping
your toe.
992. If you go anywhere and stumble, you are not wel-
come there.
993. If you stump your toe while on the way to make a
visit, you are not welcome there.
994. If you stumble on your way to make a visit, you will
gain an admirer.
995. If you stumble on your way home from a call, you
lose an admirer.
996. It is bad luck to have anyone step over your feet.
997. Avert the bad luck which will come if anyone steps
over your feet by making the person step back-
wards over them.
998. If someone should step over you while you are lying
on the floor, you will die before he does unless he
steps back.
999. It brings bad luck to step first on the left foot in the
morning.
1000. Dress and undress with the right foot first for good
luck.
1001. It is well to step into a court room on your right
foot when you have business there.
1002. If a girl steps on another girl's toe, she will take
her sweetheart from her Mountains
1003. If you cross your feet while you are dancing, the
devil will get you.
1004. If your second toe is longer than the great toe, you
will rule your mate. (Compare 586.)
1005. It brings good luck to carry a negro's toe
Western Kentucky
1006. Big feet are a sign of intelligence.
89
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1007. If you bury an amputated limb, the patient will
have pains until it rots. It should be burned.
1008. A red mole is a sign of intelligence.
1009. "A mole on the face, gentleman's taste."
1010. "A mole on the face, you'll suffer disgrace."
1011. A mole on your cheek is the sign that your mother's
washing tub will leak.
1012. "Mole on the lip,
You're a little too flip" . Central Kentucky Negroes
1013. "Mole on the ear,
Money by the year."
1014. A mole under the ear is a sign that you will be
hanged.
1015. "Mole on neck, money by the peck."
1016. A mole on the neck is a sign that the person will
be hanged.
1017. "Mole on your back,
Money by the pack."
1018. "Mole on your arm, you are a gentleman's charm."
1019. "Mole on your arm,
You'll live on a farm."
1020. "Mole on your breast, baby in the nest
Central Kentucky Negroes
1021. A mole on the right side means good luck.
1022. A mole on the left side brings bad luck.
1023. A mole in the life line on the hand is the sign of a
terrible disaster.
1024. "Moly, moly, on the leg,
Money, money, by the keg."
1025. A mole on your left leg is the sign that you have
a very bad temper Mountains
90
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
SALIVA 6
1026. If you spit on yourself, the nearest one to you will
tell a lie on you Mountains
1027. If you spit on yourself, the one nearest your right
side will tell a lie on you Mountains
1028. If you spit on yourself, you will hear of a death be-
fore the end of the week Mountains
1029. It causes bad luck to spit on any one else.
1030. If you spit over your left shoulder, you can break
a bad charm.
1031. If you spit into any one's tracks, you will have a
headache Western Kentucky
1032. If you make a cross and spit in it, you will have
good luck all your life.
1033. Spit on a rock, to make it strike the object that
you throw at Mountains
1034. When you plant a bush or plant, spit into the hole
Mountains
SNEEZES
1035. Sneeze on Monday for health.
Sneeze on Tuesday for wealth.
Sneeze on Wednesday for a letter.
Sneeze on Thursday for something better.
Sneeze on Friday for sorrow.
Sneeze on Saturday, see your sweetheart tomor-
row.
Sneeze on Sunday, safety seek,
For the Devil will be with you the rest of the week.
s Spitting is often the means of averting some kind of disaster. There-
fore the use of saliva appears in many of the classes of superstitions in this
volume. To find them the reader may consult the index.
91
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1036. Sneezes as in 1035, except
"Sneeze on Sunday, from the Devil you will bor-
row."
1037. "Sneeze on Sunday, safety seek;
Old Nick will chase you all the week.
Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,"
And the rest as in 1035.
1038. Sneezes as in number 1035, except
"Sneeze on Sunday, get a sweetheart's kiss that
day."
1039. "Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger.
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger.
Sneeze on Wednesday, get a letter.
Sneeze on Thursday, something better."
And the rest as in 1035.
1040. If you sneeze three times before breakfast on Sun-
day morning, there will be three deaths before the
week is out.
1041. It brings bad luck to sneeze before arising in the
morning.
1042. If you sneeze before seven, you will have company
before eleven.
1043. If you sneeze before breakfast, you will cry before
dinner and weep before supper.
1044. If you sneeze twice before breakfast, you will have
a beau that day.
1045. To sneeze three times before breakfast is a good
luck sign.
1046. If you sneeze before you eat,
You will have visitors before you sleep.
1047. To sneeze at the breakfast table is a sign of death.
92
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1048. If the youngest in the family sneezes at the break-
fast table on Sunday morning, a death will follow.
1049. A sneeze at the table is a sign of death.
1050. If you sneeze at the table when your mouth is full
of food, there will be a death.
1051. To sneeze at table is the sign that there will be one
more or one fewer at the next meal.
1052. If you sneeze once, someone will come into or leave
the house within an hour.
1053. If you sneeze twice, you may expect two callers
within two hours.
1054. Sneeze three times for a letter.
1055. If you sneeze three times in succession, you will be
an old maid.
1056. If one sneezes in a group of people, what is being
said will come true.
1057. A sneeze in a crowd means that the crowd will be
increased or decreased by one.
1058. Look at the sun if you feel inclined to sneeze.
CURES AND PREVENTIVES
1059. When a finger, a toe, or an arm is amputated, it
should be buried in a straight position; otherwise
the patient will suffer pains from cramp. Secrecy
should be observed in the burial of the amputated
member.
1060. If after the amputation of any member of the body
the absent member itches, scratch the other arm or
foot, to make the itching cease.
1061. Asthma in a child may be cured if a lock of its hair
is placed in a hole in a post or tree above its head.
93
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
When the child grows to that height the disease
will be cured.
1062. You may cure asthma by wearing a string of amber
beads about the neck.
1063. For back-ache use pine-resin plasters.
1064. In setting tobacco, you often have a pain in your
back. Have someone kneel on your back. The
pain will cease.
1065. To cure your back-ache, let a seventh child walk
seven times up and down your back
Central Kentucky
1066. Rub a plantain leaf on a honey-bee sting
Central Kentucky
1067. You may remove birth-marks by rubbing them with
the hand of a corpse.
1068. To prevent blindness, wear ear-rings.
1069. A dusty spider web is good for a cut.
1070. Some people can stop the flow of blood in other
people or in animals. The power runs in families,
and a man must teach it to a woman, and a woman
to a man.
1071. Hemorrhages can be stopped by the use of pills
made of cobwebs.
1072. To stop the flow of blood from a cut, use soot from
the chimney Southern Kentucky
1073. Hemorrhages can be stopped by the swallowing of
tea brewed from the soot of a wood fire.
1074. If you stick the knife or other instrument with
which you have cut yourself into the ground, the
blood will cease to flow Mountains
1075. If a knife which has caused a cut or wound is de-
stroyed, the wound will be healed Mountains
94
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1076. When you cut your hand on a piece of tin, bury the
tin in the ground, to cure the wound
North-eastern Kentucky
1077. A cut may be cured by the victim's drawing a char-
coal ring around the cut Mountains
1078. To stop hemorrhages, have a second person repeat
with the patient: "And when I passed by thee
and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said
unto thee, 'Live'." [Ezekiel 16:6.]
1079. Hemorrhages are checked by laying an axe under
the bed of the patient Mountains
1080. To stop the nose from bleeding, drop a key down
the back of the sufferer.
1081. To stop bleeding of the nose, pour water on the
back of the head Western Kentucky
1082. Keep your nose from bleeding by wearing lead
which has not been on the ground Mountains
1083. You can stop your nose from bleeding by wearing
lead around your neck, and putting it on your
shoulder when the nose begins to bleed.
1084. To stop nose-bleeding wear around the neck a bul-
let that has killed something Mountains
1085. Hold a piece of silver under the upper lip, to cure
nose-bleeding Mountains
1086. You can stop your nose from bleeding by tying a
red yarn string around your thumb
Central Kentucky
1087. You can keep the nose from bleeding by wearing a
string of red corn around the neck Mountains
1088. Wear a string of corn around your neck to cure
nose-bleeding Western Kentucky
95
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1089. To prevent bleeding of the nose, a yarn string is
worn around the left little finger
Western Kentucky
1090. As a cure for nose-bleeding, wear a certain gristle
taken from a hog's ear.
1091. To stop the nose from bleeding, put a piece of silk
paper under the upper lip.
1092. To prevent your nose from bleeding, place a piece
of stiff card board between your front teeth.
1093. If your nose bleeds, let it bleed a little bit on the
point of a knife ; then stick the knife into the ground
before the blood gets cold. This process will stop
nose-bleeding Blue Grass
1094. Nose-bleeding is stopped by allowing the blood to
fall on a sharp axe Mountains
1095. You can stop your nose from bleeding by putting a
knife dipped in the blood under a doorstep
Mountains
1096. For nose-bleeding, hold a Bible over the sufferer's
head and read Ezekiel 16: 6, three times
Mountains
1097. Eat nutmeg for boils Western Kentucky
1098. For blood-poisoning, place a piece of bacon on the
eruption Mountains
1099. Put a piece of copper on an eruption from blood-
poisoning Mountains
1100. To cure a boil, turn up a kettle, get some soot, and
make a cross on the boil Mountains
1101. You can cure your boils by swallowing shot.
1102. Boils are treated with a poultice of a mud-dauber's
nest Western Kentucky
1103. To cure a boil, boil a bar of lead (about one third of
96
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
a pound) in one pint of milk. Boil it down until
about two teaspoonfuls are left. Drink it, and you
will never have any more boils Mountains
1104. Clover boiled in a kettle with a crystalline rock
makes a salve for boils and other skin eruptions.
Mountains
1105. To cure a bone-felon, have a person who, before he
was seven years old, had held a mole until it died,
hold the finger for half an hour
Western Kentucky
1106. It causes bad luck to burn a rag that has been
around a bone-felon Mountains
1107. To cure bots in horses, rub the animal nine times
from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail, re-
peating some lingo ; then slap its side
Western Kentucky
1108. Burns can be cured by persons who have the mir-
aculous power of "blowing the fire out" of the
wound.
1109. Do not burn a bandage that has been wrapped
about a burn. If you do, the burn will not heal.
1110. To throw the dressing from a burnt wound into the
fire will cause the wound to burn as if it were in
the fire Mountains
1111. To cure a burn, one must blow on the burn, repeat-
ing these words:
"Three angels from the north;
Go out fire, come in frost" Mountains
1112. To blow the fire out of a burn, the curer says : "You
look east; you look west; you look south; you look
north. I saw three angels coming. One had fire;
one had frost. Blow out, Fire. Blow in, Frost.
97
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Without the tak-
ing in or the letting out of breath, these words must
be said in the mind three times, with the patient's
wound against the curer's mouth Mountains
1113. To take the fire out of a burn, the curer wets his
forefinger with saliva and rubs it over the burnt
place, repeating a charm of some kind
Western Kentucky
1114. You may cure cancer by going at daybreak to an
apple tree on three successive mornings and pro-
nouncing a certain incantation Mountains
1115. A cure for cancer. Get a double handful of red-
oak bark from the north side of the tree, a double
handful of persimmon-tree bark, the north side, a
double handful of the bark of the roots of dogwood,
the north side, a double handful of the bark of
sassafras roots, the north side, and a handful of
dewberry briar roots. Put these together, boil
them slowly for about twelve hours, then drink the
mixture Blue Grass
1116. A tobacco leaf is a sure cure for a carbuncle
Central Kentucky
1117. If you let a dog lick a cat, the latter will recover
from its illness.
1118. If you wash your hands in the first snow, they will
not chap that winter Mountains
1119. If your chickens are sick, take the best one that is
well and cut off its head, to cure the sick ones.
1120. Chicken-pox is treated with the water in which the
feathers of a black chicken are boiled
Western Kentucky
98
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1121. As a cure for chicken-pox, the victim may sit in
the henhouse for an hour Western Kentucky
1122. Bathe a child in greasy dish-water, to avert illness.
1123. Gunpowder is given to a woman, to facilitate child-
birth Mountains
1124. Carry an Irish potato in your pocket, to prevent
chills Western Kentucky
1125. Frizzly chickens keep off cholera Mountains
1126. Mullein tea is a cure for colds, bronchitis, or croup
Mountains
1127. To cure colds, rub the chest, the palms, and the soles
of the feet with goose-grease.
1128. Tallow rubbed on a baby's foot will cure a cold. . . .
Mountains
1129. To keep off cold (or other disease) cut an onion in
two, hang it by a string, and knock it when you
pass.
1130. If you accidentally fall into a creek, your cold will
be cured Mountains
1181. To keep off cold, wear a "sow bug" around your
neck.
1132. Put a hair or a piece of toe-nail of the patient into
a hole of a tree or stump, to cure a cold.
1133. If you drink water out of a stranger's shoe, your
sore throat will be cured Mountains
1134. To cure sore throat, mouth or eyes, use yellow root.
1135. For a sore throat, tie your right sock, when you
remove it at night and while it is warm, around
your neck. Let it remain all night.
1136. As a cure for a sore throat, let a man who has
smoked for several years blow his breath down the
throat Central Kentucky
99
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1137. Salt pork will prevent sore throat.
1138. If you wish to prevent a baby's having colic, blow
tobacco smoke on its stomach.
1139. Eggs laid on Friday will cure colic.
1140. Red pepper and salt in your shoe will keep off
conjures.
1141. Butterfly root is good for consumption.
1142. To eat the hind leg of a fat dog is a sure cure for
tuberculosis of the lungs Louisville Negroes
1143. Tuberculosis in a child may be cured if a lock of the
child's hair is placed in a hole in a post or tree high-
er than the child's head. When he grows up to that
height, he will be cured.
1144. For tuberculosis, stick a table fork into the head of
the bed of the sufferer Southern Kentucky
1145. To eat a snail each morning for nine mornings will
cure consumption Southern Kentucky
1146. For consumption, eat three snails in the morning
and three at night; then three or four days later
drink a gill of cow's water and four gills of new
milk mixed Blue Grass
1147. A cure for tuberculosis is to burn dried cow dung to
ashes, make a weak lye, and drink it now and then
Blue Grass
1148. As a cure for tuberculosis, cut off a rattlesnake's
head, put the snake into rum, and then drink of
the concoction two or three times a day. Blue Grass
1149. Tie a hemp string around the great toe of your left
foot, to cure a cold Western Kentucky
1150. A string around the neck will keep off cold.
1151. If you have small-pox, you will never have tubercu-
losis.
100
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1152. You can cure a corn by cutting it with a blade that
has shaved the dead.
1153. To cure corns, use soft lye soap ("tub soap").
1154. To cure a corn, rub a snail (without a shell) on the
corn nine times; then stick the snail on a thorn
bush Mountains
1155. When a cow's bag is hard and will not break, rub
the bag three mornings with a flat rock; then put
the rock back where you got it. The fever will
then leave the bag Central Kentucky
1156. If you feed a cow a soiled dish rag, she will recover
her cud.
1157. If you place a bowl of water under the bed at night,
your feet will not cramp.
1158. Croup is treated with skunk oil, taken internally
and applied externally.
1159. Carry sulphur in the pocket, to keep off cramps in
the arms and legs Mountains
1160. Tie a string of yarn around the ankle, to cure a
cramp.
1161. A leather band worn around the wrist prevents
cramp Western Kentucky
1162. Wear a brass ring, to keep off cramp. . .Mountains
1163. To prevent the feet from cramping, place the shoes
with the toes pointed under the bed.
1164. You can cure a crick in the neck by rubbing the
neck against a tree where a hog has rubbed itself . .
Blue Grass
1165. Wear amber beads, to keep away croup.
1166. Croup may be prevented by placing the baby's bare
foot in the first snow which falls after its birth. .
Western Kentucky
101
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1167. To avert cramp in the legs, place a pair of scissors
or some other piece of steel in your bed
Central Kentucky
1168. Wear a pot hook around the neck, to cure a crick in
the neck.
1169. Tea made from elder bark peeled upward will cure
diarrhoea Mountains
1170. To cure diphtheria, put a part of a freshly killed
chicken against the throat Western Kentucky
1171. The hair of a dog is good for its bite.
1172. If a dog that bites a person goes mad later, so will
the person. Therefore kill the dog straightway.
1173. A madstone, a stone-like substance sometimes found
in the body of a deer or other animal, will prevent
the bite of a mad dog from producing hydrophobia.
1174. The herb angelica boiled in the urine of a healthy
man-child is good for dropsy Blue Grass
1175. If you take a bess-bug and cut off its head, one
drop of blood will flow. It will cure earache
Western Kentucky
1176. Three drops of blood from three different kinds of
insects dropped into the ear will cure earache
Central Kentucky Negroes
1177. Cure earache by putting a lock of a negro's hair
into the ear Central Kentucky
1178. Roast an onion in the ashes and then put the juice
of it into your ear, to prevent earache again
Northern Kentucky
1179. Blow smoke into the ear, to prevent earache.
1180. Rub the hand of a corpse over the face of one who
has eczema.
102
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1181. Epilepsy is kept off by the victim's wearing a hemp
string around the throat Central Kentucky
1182. Epilepsy can be kept off by the sufferer's wearing
bones of a rattlesnake around the neck . . Mountains
1183. A black cat's blood and a black chicken's will cure
erysipelas Mountains
1184. Erysipelas is cured by "striking fire" over the pa-
tient's head Western Kentucky
1185. If you have your ears pierced, you will not have sore
eyes.
1186. If you wear ear-rings, you will not have sore eyes.
1187. March snow is good for sore eyes.
1188. Bottled snow water is good for sore eyes.
1189. To wake up your foot when it is asleep, make a
cross on your leg with a wet finger.
1190. To wash your feet in dish water will cure sore feet.
1191. Fill your shoes with corn and put a little water on
it. Your shoes will thereafter never hurt the feet.
1192. If you will wear a bag of rhubarb around your
neck, your children will not have club feet
Western Kentucky
1193. A remedy for frozen feet is to wrap the feet in the
skins of rabbits killed in the dark of the moon
Mountains
1194. As a remedy for frozen feet, bury a crooked penny
at the northeast corner of the cabin outside, where
water drops from the eaves Mountains
1195. Frozen feet can be cured by wrapping them in the
skin of a newly-killed rabbit, the fur on the outside.
1196. Your feet will not be frost-bitten if you wrap them
with rabbit hide Mountains
103
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1197. For frost bite, bathe the feet in the running water
from a stream that runs west.
1198. A pine knot placed in drinking water will prevent
typhoid Mountains
1199. Place steel under the bed for fever; it draws out
the electricity from the body.
1200. As a cure for a "fever" or cold blister, take wax
from your ear and rub it on the blister
Southern Kentucky
1201. If you have cold blisters, kiss a dog's forehead, and
they will get well Louisville Negroes
1202. One of the rattles of a rattlesnake will keep a per-
son from having fits Mountains
1203. To cure freckles, go to a still branch in the moun-
tains and bathe your face each day for nine days . .
Mountains
1204. To remove freckles, wash your face in buttermilk.
1205. You may cure freckles by rubbing grass over your
face before the dew is off.
1206. The first shower in May is said to cure freckles.
1207. To remove freckles, wash your face in dew off grass
the first nine mornings in May.
1208. If on the first day of May you walk backward from
your bed outdoors and then wash your face in dew,
the freckles will leave.
1209. To remove freckles, wash your face with melon rind,
1210. To wash in water standing in an oak stump, will
remove freckles Mountains
1211. To cure freckles, go to a stone and step over it three
times backward and then three times forward.
T<> cure freckles, get up before the sun rises, go
out to a wheat field, and wash in the dew.
104
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
Some say that this should be done for seven days.
1213. Glandular swellings are treated with two-year-old
marrow taken from the inferior maxillary of a hog
Western Kentucky
1214. You can stop a goitre from growing by burying a
live toad under the drip of the house . . . Mountains
1215. If you rub a goitre with a toad, it will go away. . . .
Mountains
1216. A gold bead necklace prevents a goitre or cures it
Mountains
1217. "Job's tears," (a kind of smooth, gray bean) tied
around the neck, will cure a goitre
North-eastern Kentucky
1218. If you have a goitre on your neck, rub a dead per-
son's hand over it three times. As the body decays
the goitre will disappear Louisville Negroes
1219. To cure grip, hang your hat on the bed post and
drink whiskey until you see two hats.
1220. Rub the sap from a grape vine on your hair to make
it grow Mountains
1221. Put burnt leather on a galled place on a horse to
prevent the hair from coming out white . Mountains
1222. When a servant finds that her hair is falling out, she
should seek a new situation, somewhat removed
from her present one, in order to stop the trouble.
1223. For headache, apply brown paper and vinegar.
1224. One subject to headache may prevent it by carrying
a buckeye in his pocket.
1225. For headache, use a poultice of cornmeal . Mountains
1226. You can cure headache by pressing the hand on the
forehead so as to press each pulse-beating place.
105
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
!_'_' 7. Plait the front hair into four plaits, to avert head-
ache Central Kentucky
5, To cure a headache, place the hair that comes from
the head in combing under a hidden rock some-
where Mountains
PJiM). Carry one of your teeth around your neck, to keep
off headache Mountains
1230. For headache, bruise a horse-radish leaf, wet it,
and tie it to the head Central Kentucky
1231. Wear a snake-rattle in the hair day and night, to
prevent headaches.
1232. You can cure a headache by swallowing a spider
weh Western Kentucky
1233. Wear a match in your hair, to keep from having a
headache.
1234. Cure hiccough by holding the breath and counting
nine.
1235. To cure hiccough, take nine sips of water, count
nine backwards, and then turn around nine times.
1236. If somebody tells somebody else to get you a drink,
it will stop hiccough North-eastern Kentucky
1237. You can cure hiccough if you put the ends of both
thumbs behind the ears and push inward
Blue Grass
1238. You can cure hiccough if you frighten the victim
badly Blue Grass
PJ.'W. If you have a hiccough, think of your lover. If he
loves you, you will not have it anymore.
1240. You can cure a child of hives by "scarifying," that
is, by making three cuts in the child's back, mixing
the blood with breast milk, and giving the mixture
to the child to drink Mountains
106
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1241. To cure a baby of hives; place a hot, moist cloth just
under the shoulder blade, remove it, cut the skin
two or three times with a razor; draw about fif-
teen or twenty drops of blood, and feed it to the
baby.
1242. When you break out with hives, mix Irish potato
peelings, peanut-butter, and lard; cook them to a
syrup and rub with it Louisville Negroes
1243. To cure hollow horn, cut a gash in a cow's tail, put
in salt, and sew up the wound . . . Central Kentucky
1244. If a horse hurts his feet, take a nail from the shoe
and put it into a lard-can Mountains
1245. May butter will make an ointment that will cure
any ill; it never grows rancid. .Western Kentucky
1246. Carry a castor-bean for indigestion.
1247. For indigestion, boil chicken-gizzards and drink the
broth.
1248. A sure cure for stomach trouble is a tea made from
dog-fennel.
1249. A sure remedy for all kinds of stomach troubles is
ginseng.
1250. A nutmeg carried in the pocket or in the clothes is
a preventive for stomach troubles.
1251. Keep a goat with a herd of cattle, to keep off in-
fectious diseases Blue Grass
1252. A mole's foot will keep off infectious diseases
Blue Grass
1253. Kiss an injured spot to make it well.
1254. Iron gives strength. It may be given in the form
of simple filings, rust of iron, or salt of steel
Blue Grass
107
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
>. To cure itch in the toe, tie a yarn string around the
toe which is affected Mountains
1256. Roll the baby in sulphur and lard for itch
Mountain
1257. To cure itch, rub the body with sulphur, wear your
clothes three weeks without change or bath, and
bury the clothes. Later dig them up in the dark
of the moon and launder them Mountains
1258. For jaundice, catch about a half-dozen "old sows"
(gray hearth bugs) and boil them in water. Then
stir into the mixture enough meal to make a cake.
Place it on the chimney piece. When the cake is
done, the person will be well. (It is not necessary
to eat it. ) Central Kentucky
1259. Wet the index-finger in the mouth, rub it on the
bottom of a "pot- vessel" of some sort, and make
a cross-mark on a kernel under the jaw, to make it
disappear Mountains
1260. To cure kernels which result from a bruise or sore,
cross them with soot from the chimney.
1261. For an affection of the kidneys, pills made of pine-
pitch are taken.
1262. For gravel or other kidney disorders, drink tea
made from nine buds picked from as many differ-
ent stalks of mullein.
1263. You can cure a liver complaint in a child by having
him touch his left foot with his right hand
Mountains
1264. For difficult and painful menstruation, take the larg-
est grown pullet you can get, that never laid an
egg, pick her without scalding, beat her to pieces
108
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
and boil her well. Let the patient drink the soup
about the time of the change Blue Grass
1265. For measles, use "sheep-nanny" tea, that is, a drink
made by pouring hot water over the dried manure
of sheep.
1266. Flesh moles may be removed by the juice of milk-
weed.
1267. Some people have the power of removing flesh
moles simply by rubbing grass over them.
1268. To ward off mumps, wear a silk cord around the
waist.
1269. If from stumping your toe you break your nail,
place it with two stones in a rag; then throw the
rag over the house Mountains
1270. When a nail is stuck into the foot, drive the nail
into the ground, to make the swelling go down.
1271. If a nail is stuck into the foot, do not drive the nail
high into a door or wall because the swelling in the
foot will then rise.
1272. If you stick a rusty nail into your foot, hide the
nail where no one can find it, to prevent your foot
from getting sore.
1273. If you stick a nail into your foot, grease the nail
and carry it in your pocket. The wound will heal
quickly.
1274. If you pull a nail out of a horse's foot and put it into
your pocket, the horse's foot will not get sore.
1275. Neuralgia can be cured if the sufferer will for three
consecutive days take nine swallows of water after
rising in the morning and before speaking
Mountains
109
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
rj:<;. Use a red silk handkerchief for neuralgia
Central Kentucky
1-J77. If you are suffering from neuralgia in the left side
of the head, take a piece of red wrapping string,
ignite it, and sniff the smoke into the right nostril,
and vice versa Blue Grass
1278. Tie a certain bone from a hog's head around the
neck, to keep off neuralgia
Central Kentucky Negroes
1279. Neuralgia is cured by the wearing of a nutmeg
around the neck Central Kentucky
1280. If you go to sleep on the flat of the back, you will
not have a nightmare Mountains
1281. A cure for nightmare is found by turning the shoes
upside down with the toes toward the head of the
bed.
1282. A pan of water under the bed prevents night sweats.
1283. In slicing onions, place a pin between the teeth, to
prevent crying.
1284. For a fallen palate, the hair on top of a patient's
head is pulled "till it pops" ; the patient at the same
time must swallow twice Western Kentucky
1285. To cure phthisic, you must measure yourself with
a broom-stick and then put the broom-stick upstairs
where you will never see it again Mountains
1286. To cure phthisic, stand the one affected against a
tree, fasten a lock of his hair in the tree, and then
cut that lock off. When the place grows over, the
sick one will be cured.
1287. Cockle-burr tea is good for phthisic
Central Kentucky
1288. Cany a horse chestnut in the pocket, to avert piles.
.110
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1289. Carry alum, to keep off piles Mountains
1290. To cure pheumonia, place a part of a freshly killed
chicken on the chest Western Kentucky
1291. A dime under your tongue will enable you to eat
without danger of poison Central Kentucky
1292. A nutmeg tied around the neck with a silk cord
prevents quinsy.
1293. Carry an acorn in the pocket, to prevent rheuma-
tism.
1294. A piece of alum carried by a person who is suffer-
ing from rheumatism will cure the disease.
1295. Wear amber beads about the neck for rheumatism.
1296. To cure rheumatism, fill a can with angleworms,
let it stand in the sun all day, and rub the oil on
the stiff joints.
1297. A brass ring worn on the left thumb prevents rheu-
matism.
1298. If you wear a brass ring on the middle finger of the
left hand, you will prevent rheumatism
North-eastern Kentucky
1299. To avert rheumatism, carry a horse-chestnut in the
pocket.
1300. Put a bumble-bee sting between the fingers, to keep
off rheumatism.
1301. Use carbon from an arc-light that has not touched
the ground, to prevent rheumatism.
1302. For rheumatism, wear a copper wire around the
affected parts Northern Kentucky
1303. Rheumatism may be prevented by the sufferer's
sleeping with a dog Mountains
1304. For rheumatism, wear an eel skin around the neck.
111
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
I :*().>. You can cure your rheumatism by carrying elder
leaves in your pocket Mountains
1306. Wear red flannel on the wrist, to cure rheumatism
Blue Grass
1307. Carry a round ham bone, to avert rheumatism.
1308. Bend a horse-shoe nail into the form of a ring, to
avert rheumatism.
1309. If you break the ice in winter time and jump into
the water, the bath will cure rheumatism.
1310. Wear a lead ring, to keep off rheumatism.
1311. For rheumatism, wear a nutmeg around the neck.
1312. Pokeberries are thought to be a cure for rheuma-
tism. The berry mixed with whiskey is drunk as a
tea. The dried berry gathered in the fall is also
made into tea. The raw berry is also eaten
Mountains
1313. Rheumatism is treated with skunk grease or red-
worm oil Western Kentucky
1314. An Irish potato in the pocket may avert or cure
rheumatism. If the potato hardens, it will cure the
ailment. If, however, it rots, it will do no good.
1315. Carry a round ham-bone in your pocket, to avert
rheumatism.
1316. Carry a potato filled with tacks in your pocket, to
keep off rheumatism Northern Kentucky
1317. You can cure your rheumatism by crossing your
shoes at night Northern Kentucky
1318. If you wish to keep from having rheumatism, place
your shoes side by side under the bed at night
North-eastern Kentucky
1819. Wear a silver ring, to keep off rheumatism.
112
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1320. As a cure for rheumatism, tie a red string around
the toe.
1321. A white silk ribbon worn about the body will pre-
vent rheumatism Blue Grass
1322. A belt made of a rattlesnake skin will cure rheu-
matism Mountains
1323. To cure rheumatism, kill a rattlesnake which has
had no chance to strike, skin it, dry the remains,
place them in a jug of corn whiskey, and drink the
whiskey Mountains
1324. Carry sulphur in the pocket for rheumatism
Mountains
1325. To cure rheumatism, bind a live toad to the back.
The pain will pass from the back of the sufferer
into the toad Blue Grass
1326. Put a string of yarn around the neck, to keep off
rheumatism.
1327. You can cure rheumatism if you will tie a wool
string around your ankle.
1328. To cure ringworms, wet the index finger in the
mouth, continue to move it in a circle on the bot-
tom of a used pot, chanting this incantation the
while :
"Ringworm round,
Ringworm red,
Ringworm die,
To make glad."
The person afflicted with ring-worm goes through
with the ceremony using his given name in the
blank space Mountains
1329. To cure a ringworm, let some one rub the ringworm
113
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
with each of his fingers wet with saliva. Do not
let him see the ringworm Mountains
1330. To cure a ringworm, rub around it nine times with
a thimble Mountains
1331. Scratch a cross with a pin on the finger, to make
a "run-around" go off Mountains
1332. For shingles, rub the sores with blood obtained from
cutting off a black cat's tail. They will then never
meet Central Kentucky
1333. For shingles, cut off a black cat's tail and nail the
tail against a door Mountains
1334. Kill a black chicken, and put the blood on shingles,
to cure them.
1335. To cure a pain in the side, spit on the bottom of a
stone, put it back in its place, and repeat rapidly
an indefinite number of times, until the pain leaves
your side: "Pain, get off my side; pain, get off
my side" Mountains
1336. For a pain in the side, stoop over until the nose
touches the ground.
1337. For a pain in the side, stoop and take a drink of
water from a spring.
1338. Hops in the pillow are soothing and induce sleep.
1339. You will never have small-pox so long as you carry
an onion in your pocket Blue Grass
1340. For a snake-bite, bury the wounded part in the
earth.
1341. For a snake-bite, put grease on the wound and let
a dog lick it Central Kentucky Negroes
1342. For a snake-bite, tie the half of a freshly killed
chicken to the bitten place Central Kentucky
1343. If a snake bites you, kill the snake, split it open,
114
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
and wrap it around the wounded member
Mountains
1344. Bind the liver and the intestines of the snake to its
bite, as a cure for snake-bite Blue Grass
1345. A rattlesnake-bite is cured by salt and fresh pork . .
Mountains
1346. A piece of red yarn around your little toe will take
sores off your feet Mountains
1347. Take jimson-weed and fat meat on a penny and
apply the mixture to a sore ; it will stop pain
Louisville Negroes
1348. A sore may be cured by a dog's licking it
Louisville Negroes
1349. After you have extracted a splinter from your flesh,
there will be no pain if you put the splinter in
your hair Louisville Negroes
1350. Sprains are treated with goose grease.
Western Kentucky
1351. For insect stings, take three kinds of weeds and
rub the place that is irritated. . Southern Kentucky
1352. To cure a stone bruise, bind a live toad on the bruise.
When the toad dies, the bruise will disappear.
1353. Rub a black cat's tail over your eye nine times, to
remove a sty.
1354. To remove a sty, steal a dish-cloth, rub the sty with
it, and bury the dish-cloth secretly.
1355. Rub an incipient sty with a plain gold ring warmed
by friction with a woolen garment. Pronounce the
following couplet:
"Sty, sty, leave my eye;
Go to the next passer-by."
115
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1356. A .sty may be cured by one's rubbing it with a wed-
ding ring that has been blessed. .Central Kentucky
1357. Take gravel from a running stream, rub it on a sty
or other place of pain, and then replace it
Mountains
1358. If any one has a sty on his eye, tell him he has told
a lie. This statement will relieve him . . Mountains
1359. If some one on seeing that you have a sty says that
it is a sty and you say it is a lie, the sty will go off.
Mountains
1360. If you wear a nutmeg around your neck, you will
cure the sty on your eye.
1361. At a cross-roads say: "Sty, sty, leave eye;
Go to the next passer-by."
1362. Remove a sty by turning three times on the heel at
a cross-roads.
1363. If you have a sty, walk backwards to a cross-roads
and spit on the ground three times over the right
shoulder. The sty will leave you and infect the
next passer-by.
1364. Remove a sty by picking up a rock, spitting on it,
and returning it to its place.
1365. To keep off sun-stroke, put a wet cabbage leaf on
the head.
1366. If you have a sun pain in your head, clip a small
bunch of hair from the top of your head and place
it in a branch running from west to east . Mountains
1367. If you have a tape-worm, get a handful of the bark
of the root on the north side of a mulberry tree and
boil it in a gallon of new milk; take this mixture
for three days before the full, and three days be-
fore the change, for three moons Blue Grass
116
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1368. To cure tetter, wear a brass ring on your thumb. . ,
Southern Kentucky
1369. Thrush in a child can be cured if a person who has
never seen his father will blow his breath three
times into the child's face for three days
Blue Grass
1370. You may cure thrush by putting the blood of a
chicken into the child's mouth Mountains
1371. To cure thrush, place a lock of the child's hair into
a hole in a tree Central Kentucky
1372. Rainwater from a stump will cure thrush.
1373. Thrush in a child can be cured by washing the
child's mouth with nine sage buds Mountains
1374. For thrush, take three bunches of green sage of
three buds each; rake each bunch through the
mouth; hang the three bunches before the fire;
when they dry, the child will be cured. .Mountains
1375. The seventh son or daughter by blowing into the
mouth of a child will cure thrush
Western Kentucky
1376. To avert thrush, drink water from a man's right
shoe Mountains
1377. You can cure thrush in a child by giving him to
drink water that has been tossed in a stranger's
right shoe from heel to toe three times . . Mountains
1378. Cure thrush by having the child drink water out
of an old shoe Mountains
1379. As a cure for thrush, place nine sow-bugs (little
white insects found under stones near dwellings) in
a small sack and wear it around the neck for nine
days.
117
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1380. To cure a child of thrush, let a stallion snort into
the child's face Mountains
1381. The wearing of amber beads around the neck will
help teething Central Kentucky
1382. Black wooden beads worn about the neck will avert
the pains of teething Blue Grass
1383. Black hen's brains make babies' teething easy
Central Kentucky
1384. For a baby's teething, let it have nine pieces of
burdock root on a string around its neck
Central Kentucky
1385. Rub an unbroken egg shell on a baby's gums, to
ease the pains of teething Mountains
1386. Suspend a borrowed egg in a paper sack from the
ceiling, to cause the baby to cut its teeth easily ....
Western Kentucky
1387. Sore gums in a baby may be cured by the applica-
tion of a groundhog's brains Mountains
1388. Put the eye-tooth of a hog about the neck of a child,
to keep it from having a hard second summer.
(This tooth is found with a hole through the center)
Central Kentucky
1389. For sore gums, let the child wear a necklace of
"Job's Tears" (a kind of smooth, gray bean) about
its neck.
1390. To aid a baby in cutting its teeth, rub a minnow or
other small fish on the baby's gums .... Mountains
1391. To make all teething pains in a child cease, fasten
about its neck in a small cloth "poke" or bag the
right front paw of a ground mole.
1392. Make a baby's teething easy by putting a quarter
of a dollar around its neck.
118
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1393. For teething, cut off a rabbit's head, roast the head
with the hair on, take the brains out, and rub them
on the gums Blue Grass Negroes
1394. Rub warm and raw rabbits' brains on the baby's
gums Mountains
1395. A snail or slug is placed on the gum for tooth-ache
Western Kentucky
1396. If you put a string of warm seed roots about a
baby's neck, its teething will not be painful
Mountains
1397. For teething, use a necklace of whole spice soaked in
whiskey Blue Grass
1398. For toothache, make the gums bleed, put the blood
on a long cotton string, and tie the string around a
dogwood tree at a place where an incision has been
made in the bark Western Kentucky
1399. To cure a toothache, steal a dishrag and bury it. . .
North-eastern Kentucky
1400. For toothache a faith doctor writes, "Gaffa, gaffa,
gaff a," on the wall. With a nail he points at each
letter, at the same time asking the sufferer if the
tooth feels better. When he reaches a letter where
the tooth is said to be better, he drives in the nail,
and the toothache ceases Western Kentucky
1401. If you keep a hog's jaw tooth, you will not have a
toothache Mountains
1402. To cure toothache, cut a wart off a horse's leg and
rub it on the gums Western Kentucky
1403. For toothache, carry the skull of a horse as far as
you can, holding its teeth with your teeth ,
Mountains
1404. To cure toothache, choke a mole with your hands
119
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
behind your head and hang one of its feet around
your neck Mountains
1405. For toothache, secure a tooth from a live mole and
rub this on the aching member . Western Kentucky
1406. Avert or cure toothache by cutting your nails on
Friday.
1407. You can cure toothache by promising not to cut
your nails or do similar things on Sunday
Mountains
1408. If you stand a person against a tree and drive a
nail into the tree just above his head, this process
will cure toothache Western Kentucky
1409. To cure toothache, pick your tooth with a poplar
peg until it bleeds, then wrap a yarn string around
the peg, and get someone to bury it. Relief will
come soon Central Kentucky
1410. To cure toothache, pick up a rock, spit on the under
side, and put it back into the same place . Mountains
1411. If after your tooth is pulled you throw it over the
left shoulder (or put it under a rock), you will
have no toothache Mountains
1412. Pick your aching tooth with a splinter from a tree
that has been struck by lightning
Western Kentucky
1413. To prevent toothache, make a wish by the full moon
Mountains
1414. To cure toothache, go to a wood, find a small hick-
ory tree, take your knife, stand by the tree and
mark the place even with your mouth; then move
back, turn up the bark, spit into the place, and
turn the bark down again. If it grows back, your
tooth will not hurt any more Mountains
120
KENTUCKY .SUPERSTITIONS
1415. If you have swollen tonsils, place a live toad against
them. The swelling will disappear
: Southern Kentucky
1416. To cure abrasion in the toe, tie a yarn string around
the toe Mountains
1417. Place hops in a bag or in your clothes as a cure for
train-sickness or sea-sickness.
1418. Put Irish potatoes in a traveling bag, to keep off
train-sickness.
1419. A newspaper inside the shirt next to the skin will
keep off train-sickness.
1420. To prevent train-sickness, wear a piece of writing
paper on the chest.
1421. To prevent train-sickness, wear a pair of soles made
of butchers' brown paper . North-eastern Kentucky
1422. You must not take turpentine externally unless
you take it internally.
1423. For typhoid, cut a chicken in half and put one part
against the sole of each foot.
1424. Sprinkle lime around the house, to protect the
family from typhoid Mountains
1425. A piece of onion will keep off typhoid. .Mountains
1426. Tea made from the lining of a chicken's gizzard will
cure vomiting.
1427. Tea made from elder bark peeled downward will
cure vomiting Mountains
1428. Peach-tree bark taken internally will cure vomiting
1429. To cause vomiting, put a wet tobacco leaf beneath
the foot, under the arm, or on the stomach.
1430. You can make a wart go away by burying an apple
secretly and saying this charm :
121
KENTUCKY , SUPERSTITIONS
"As this apple decays, so let my wart go away" . . .
Blue Grass
1431. Make an incision in the bark of an apple tree.
When the place grows over, your wart will be gone.
1432. Rub the wart with bacon rind. Bury it secretly.
As it decays, the wart will disappear.
1433. Rub the warts with a piece of bacon. Tie a string
around the bacon and bury it secretly. The warts
will leave within nine days.
1434. Rub the wart with fresh beefsteak, tie a string
around the steak, and bury it secretly. The wart
will leave within nine days.
1435. Buy five cents worth of candy, eat it all, and your
warts will disappear.
1436. For a wart cure, bury one bean or three beans se-
cretly. When the beans sprout, the wart will be
cured.
1437. Put wart blood on a bean leaf and bury it secretly
The wart will leave within nine days.
1438. As a cure for a wart, put blood from the wart on a
bean leaf, pour water on the rock, and leave it. The
wart will disappear.
1439. Take a bean leaf and squeeze its juice onto a wart.
The wart will be gone in three days.
1440. Get nine bean leaves and rub them nine times over
your wart; then bury them where they will rot.
1441. Rub the wart with the underside of a round or ring
bone. Bury the bone secretly. Within three weeks
the wart will disappear.
1442. Kill a black cat, take it to a graveyard at midnight,
and rub the cat on the wart.
122
KENTUCKY .SUPERSTITIONS
1443. To make a wart go away, wash it in the blood of a
black cat which was killed in the light of the moon.
1444. Pick the wart with a brass pin. Let one drop of
blood fall on a stone. Cover the drop with another
stone and then bury them secretly.
1445. Put castor oil on a wart.
1446. Rub a chicken gizzard or chicken intestine on a
wart, to make it disappear.
1447. Rub coffee grounds on a wart; then put the coffee
grounds into a bag and bury them.
1448. If you have warts, put as many cords under a rock
as you have warts. When the cords rot, the warts
will disappear.
1449. To cure warts, rub seven grains of corn on the
warts ; then feed the corn to your neighbor's chick-
ens.
1450. To cure a wart, cut it, take ten grains of corn, and
put them on the wart; then put them into a crawfish
hole. The wart will go off.
1451. Pick a wart with a red grain of corn until it bleeds;
then give the grain of corn to a red rooster.
1452. Pick the wart, put the blood from it on a grain of
corn, and give it to a gander.
1453. Rub a wart with a grain of corn, and drop the grain
into a well; when it rots the wart will disappear.
1454. Pick the largest or "seed" wart with a needle until
it bleeds; then take as many grains of corn as you
have warts and put a drop of blood on each. Feed
these to a rooster.
1455. To remove warts, pick the part until it bleeds, put
the blood on seven grains of corn, and feed them
to one chicken.
123
KENTUCKY .SUPERSTITIONS
1456. Some people can count warts off.
1457. Some people can rub a wart and conjure it off.
1458. If you cut a cross mark on a tree and then pick the
wart until it bleeds and rub the blood on the cross
mark, the wart will leave when the mark goes off
the tree.
1459. To cure a wart, go to a cross-roads, make a cross,
and spit into the middle of it.
1460. Rub a wart with the juice of a dandelion, to make it
leave.
1461. If you have warts, wait until some one dies; then
just at midnight go to the graveyard and call to the
devil. He will take away the warts.
1462. Rub the wart with an old dishrag (some say, a
stolen dishrag) . Bury the rag. When it rots, the
wart will be gone. The process must be done se-
cretly.
1 463. In the use of a stolen dishrag for the cure of a wart,
throw it over your left shoulder into a pond.
1464. Tie a dog's hair around a wart very tightly; the
wart will disappear.
1465. Steal an egg, rub it over the wart, and then bury
it. Do not tell any one of your act. The wart
will disappear.
1466. Cut your finger-nail to the quick. When it grows
out, the wart will be gone.
1467. Catch a fish and rub the wart with it.
1468. Rub the wart seven times with a gold ring.
1469. Rub a wart with the end of a goose quill.
1470. In order to cure a wart, place a fresh piece of grape
vine over the wart; then bury the vine in a secret
place.
124
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1471. If you drop some dirt from a new grave on a wart,
it will go away.
1472. Get three pieces of gravel where the rain-water falls
on them off the house ; apply them to the wart ; then
tie them in a white rag and bury them . . Mountains
1473. To remove a wart, rub it with nine pieces of gravel,
and then place the pieces in the fork of the roads . .
Mountains
1474. Select an herb of each of three different kinds. Spit
on each herb and touch the wart with it. Bury the
herbs. Tell no one. The wart will disappear.
1475. Cut the wart off with a horse hair.
1476. Cut the wart off with a silk thread.
1477. If you kiss your wart and then kiss some one, your
wart will come off Mountains
1478. Warts may be removed by lemon juice.
1479. As a cure for warts, steal a piece of meat, grease
the warts, bury the meat under a rail fence or the
eave of the house. When the meat rots, the warts
will be gone.
1480. Rub the juice of milk- weed on the wart. It will be
cured by the next morning. This remedy is pos-
sibly medicinal.
1481. When you see the new moon, pick up any object
on which your foot rests and rub this article on
the wart ; then walk backwards ten steps and throw
the object over your right shoulder. Very soon the
wart will disappear.
1482. If you look at the new moon and rub your hand
over the wart three times, saying each time, "You
grow and you go," the wart will disappear
Mountains
125
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1483. When you see a new moon, rub your finger-tip
around the wart. It will leave.
1484. Rub the wart with a stalk of green mustard.
1485. To remove a wart, one must pick it until it bleeds,
then put the blood on a rusty nail, and drive the
nail into the root of an oak tree.
1486. Give the warts on your hand names that you have
never heard of and make some good wish about
them; the warts will go off.
1487. To cure warts on cattle, name the animal that has
the warts "Tinny," and call it always by that name
Southern Kentucky
1488. Smoke a nettle and stick it in the wart; then throw
the nettle away.
1489. Count the warts each night for nine nights. They
will leave.
1490. Let a friend of yours cut the wart on your hand and
then put a drop of the blood on a piece of paper
and hide it. The wart will leave.
1491. Cut the wart. Put a drop of blood on a piece of
the wart on paper. Throw the paper away at a
cross-roads or over the left shoulder. If any one
picks up the paper, your wart will pass to him. Se-
crecy must be observed.
1492. Rub the warts with peach-tree leaves and bury the
leaves. When they rot, the warts will leave.
1493. Go unseen to a young peach-tree and cut with a
butcher knife as many notches in the tree as you
have warts. Put the knife back into its place. In
seven days the warts will go away.
1494. Cut three notches in a peach-tree limb. When the
notches are filled up, the wart will be gone.
126
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1495. To remove a wart, rub a penny over the wart for
nine mornings.
1496. Pick the wart until it bleeds. Split the bark of a
persimmon tree and put the blood within. When
the split grows up, the wart will leave
Western Kentucky
1497. If someone gives you a pin and if you then close
your eyes and turn around three times, your wart
will disappear Central Kentucky
1498. Pick your wart with a pin; blindfold yourself and
stick the pin into the ground; the wart will dis-
appear Southern Kentucky
1499. Thrust a pin entirely through a wart; heat the point
of the pin; pull the heated point back through the
wart Western Kentucky
1500. Pick a wart with a pin that has never been used and
throw it where it can never be found. Your wart
will disappear. Mountains
1501. To remove a wart, rub it with a pin that belongs to
someone other than a relation of yours. Then hide
the pin Western Kentucky
1502. The warts will go away if you give a girl who is not
related to you a pin or anything like a pin
Mountains
1503. Put poke-root on the warts, to remove them.
1504. If you rub a wart with a fresh piece of potato once
or twice each day, it will fall out within two weeks.
1505. Throw a piece of potato over your left shoulder.
When the potato sprouts, your wart will be cured.
1506. If you boil potatoes and wash your hands in the
juice, your warts will leave.
127
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1507. Rub a person's wart three times; on the third time
say, "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" . . . Mountains
1508. Pick a wart until it bleeds; rub salt over it; wrap
the salt up in a piece of paper; throw the paper into
the road. The wart will disappear.
1,509. Cut as many notches in a sassafras root as you have
warts; plant the root; if it grows, the warts will
leave Mountains
1510. Call each wart by the name of a preacher, cut a
notch for each one in a sassafras stick, and stick it
into the ground up to the first notch. The warts
will then disappear Mountains
1511. Cure a wart by selling it to someone and keeping
the money.
1512. Warts may be cured by the touch of the seventh
son of a seventh son, who must utter the words.
"Go away, wart." No pay must be offered to the
healer.
1513. Tie a black silk thread around the wart. When the
thread wears out, the wart will disappear.
1514. Rub the warts with a snail obtained from the woods ;
place the snail on a stick; when the snail crawls
away from the stick, the warts will be gone.
1515. Spit on a wart and rub it seven times upward with
the finger while someone chants a hocus-pocus
rhyme Western Kentucky
15UJ. Rub a steel ring on a rug, and then touch the wart
It will be gone at the end of three weeks.
1 "'17. Cut as many notches in a stick as you have warts,
and place it under the drip of the house. When it
nuns, the warts will go off Mountains
151 H. Measure each wart with a stick, and break off the
128
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
piece. Bury the pieces of stick. When they rot,
the warts will be gone.
1519. Get a stone at midnight, spit on it, and put it on a
rafter in the attic. In eight weeks turn it over.
Secrecy must be observed.
1520. Touch each wart with a stone, and speak certain
secret words of charm. The warts will leave.
1521. Go out secretly in the morning, rub a stone on the
wart, and put the stone back exactly as you found
it. Repeat this action daily until the wart disap-
pears.
1522. A good cure for warts is to prick them with a broom
straw, and then break the straw into as many pieces
as there are warts.
1523. Get a piece of straw for every wart; touch each
wart with a separate straw. Bury the straws in a
wet place. When they rot, the warts will be gone.
1524. Pick three straws from a broom. Rub the wart
three times. Bury the straws where water drops.
When the straws rot, the cure is effected. This
process must be done secretly.
1525. Rub a bundle of straws over a wart, and place it
in a path where it will be picked up. If some one
picks the bundle up, the wart will go away within
a month.
1526. A witch-doctor takes a flat stick and cuts a notch
for each of your warts. Then he chants: "Come,
witches, take these warts away." He then hides the
stick. When it is moved, the warts will leave
Mountains
1527. Take a string out of a dish rag, tie as many knots
in it as you have warts on your hand, and bury it
129
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
under a rock. When it rots, the warts will disap-
pear.
1528. Let someone tie a string into a knot on the wart,
and then hide it in a place unknown to the afflicted
person. When the string rots, the wart disappears.
1529. To cure a wart, walk backwards in the moonlight
to an old stump full of water and stick your hand
into the water.
1530. In order to remove a wart, you must get up some
morning without speaking to anyone or allowing
anyone to speak to you and walk down the steps
backward and out of the house to a thorn bush,
Take a thorn from the bush, and stick it into your
coat; then address the thorn bush: "Mr. Thorn,
I wish to trade you my warts for a thorn."
1531. Tie a black thread around the wart, and then put
the thread where the water drips off the house ....
Mountains
1532. Put a thread on the wart; then take the thread, and
let some one bury it in a place you do not know.
When the thread rots, the warts will come off.
1533. Any old woman who is possessed of supernatural
power will remove your warts for so many pins . . .
Mountains
1534. Point the fingers at a wart and say "Tige" three
times. It will go away.
1535. In order to cure your warts, put tobacco juice on
them.
1536. To remove your warts, rub a broken toothpick on
them.
1537. If someone rubs your wart twenty-five times, it
130
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
will leave your hand and go to his
Central Kentucky
1538. Stick a toothpick dipped in vinegar into your wart.
It will leave.
1539. Rub the wart with half of a green walnut and then
bury the pieces of walnut Western Kentucky
1540. If you tie three knots in a red yarn string and throw
it into the fire, the warts will leave your hands.
1541. To cure a wart, hold your hand so deep in water
that you cannot see the wart Mountains
1542. To awaken a sleeping part of the body, wet your
finger, and make a cross on that part of the body.
1543. No matter how much contaminated water may be,
it will be purified when it has passed over nine
pebbles Mountains
1544. To remove a wen, wish it away with a formula, and
strike it with a book.
1545. If you have a wen on your hand, rub it against a
dead-man's neck, to make it go wway
Louisville Negroes
1546. To cure a wen on your neck, place a string around
the neck of a deceased friend of yours and after-
ward wear it around your own neck
Louisville Negroes
1547. To keep off whooping-cough, wear a black velvet
band around the neck Blue Grass Negroes
1548. A tea made from white ants will cure whooping-
cough \ Louisville Negroes
1549. You will cure a pain in your leg if you tie a string
around your leg just above the knee
Western Kentucky
131
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
FIRE
1.5.50. To play with fire will bring bad luck.
1.5.51. A child that plays with fire will wet its bed.
1.5.V2. You will have bad luck if you burn bones.
1.5.53. If you burn the skin of onions, you will receive
money Lousiville Negroes
1.5.54. If you burn an egg-shell, you will get money
Louisville Negroes
1.5.5.5. If the fire roars, there will be a quarrel in the family.
1556. Some negroes can foretell the arrival of strangers
by the presence of figures in the fire.
1.5.57. If a piece of burning wood or coal rolls from the
fire-place, a stranger is coming.
1558. To avert the coming of a stranger when a piece of
burning wood or coal rolls from the fire-place, spit
on the burning pieces.
1559. Name a piece of burning wood or coal when it falls
from the fireplace the person you wish to see, and
then spit on it.
1560. If a log falls out of the fireplace, put it back in the
same position as it was before falling. If you do
not, you will have bad luck .... Louisville Negroes
1.5(51. You must not turn a log of wood over in the fire,
for you will have bad luck; and if a piece falls
down, you must not turn it around when you re-
place it.
1.5(52. When fire pops, there will be a quarrel in the fam-
ily. The one that punches the fire will start the
quarrel.
1.5(5.3. To avoid a quarrel in the family, stir the fire when
it pops.
. If a spark pops out of the fire, company is coming.
132
KENTUCKY .SUPERSTITIONS
1565. In making a garment, if the fire pops upon it, you
will die before it is finished.
1566. To avert the disaster that follows the popping of
fire upon your dress, throw salt into the fire.
1567. If a spark from a fire falls behind you, you will have
trouble that comes from behind you.
1568. It causes bad luck to move into a house before the
fire left by the last tenants has died out
Western Kentucky
1569. If the soot hangs from the bars of a grate, some one
is coming Mountains
1570. If soot on the back of a fire-place catches fire and
if sparks creep and crawl along it, you will have
fresh meat.
1571. If a fire goes out before the fuel is consumed, there
will be bad luck.
1572. If a tree is struck by lightning, the fire may be put
out by milk but not by water.
1573. If you burn the wood of a tree that has been struck
by lightning, there will be a death in your family . .
Mountains
HOUSEHOLD AND DOMESTIC LIFE 1
1574. If the stone step of a newly built house cracks, there
will be an early death in the family
1575. If a board warps in a porch, you may expect a death
in the family.
1576. To build a new house where an old one stood will
cause a death in the family.
1577. It brings bad luck to cut a door or a window in a
i For dates of moving see Days and Seasons. For the connection of witches
and butter, see Witches.
133
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
house after it is built. If you cut a new door in an
old house, there will be a death in your family.
1578. When dirt is lifted, if it is thrown away from the
house, there will be good luck for the household.
1579. It causes bad luck when dirt is lifted, if it is thrown
toward the house.
1580. If a chimney is blown from your house during a
storm, you will have good luck if it falls on the
right of the house Blue Grass
1581. If you 'build a new house and move at once into it,
one of the family will die.
1582. If you give an entertainment upon moving into a
new house, you will have good luck.
1583. If when you move into a new house you take into it
first a basket of food, you will have good luck and
a sufficiency of food Blue Grass*
1584. If you take a cat with you when you move, you will
have three years of bad luck Mountains
1585. It brings good luck, when you move into a newly
built house, to hang a bag of salt in the kitchen be-
hind the stove Mountains
1586. When she moves, the woman should not enter the
new home without salt Mountains
1587. When you move, do not take salt into the house
first.
1588. To carry an old broom to a new house brings bad
luck.
1589. In moving into a new house, do not take the broom
in first.
1590. It brings good luck, when you move into a new
home, to take the handle of the broom in first.
134
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1591. You must never take your broom with you when
you move.
1592. In taking up residence at a new place, throw a
broom before you through the front door.
1593. Never move from a house without throwing a broom
over it.
1594. To sweep a house after the moving is done will bring
bad luck.
1595. If you are hit by a broom, you will be arrested.
1596. If you hit a person with a broom, he will spend the
greater part of his life in prison.
1597. If the person struck with a broom spits on the
broom, he averts the prison omen.
1598. If you hit a person with a broom, you will make
him lazy.
1599. To step over a broom is a sign of slovenliness.
1600. If you step over a broom when it is on the floor,
you will have bad luck.
1601. To step backward over a broom brings bad luck.
1602. It brings good luck to fall over a broom handle.
1603. It causes bad luck to hand a person a broom from
a window.
1604. It is unwise to carry a broom from the front door
through the house to the back.
1605. If a broom falls in front of a door, there will be dis-
aster to the one who goes through that door.
1606. You will have bad luck if you place a broom with
the handle above.
1607. It causes bad luck to lean a broom against a bed.
1608. If you drop a great many broom-straws out of a
broom, you will have good luck.
1609. If a bunch of straws comes out of the broom when
135
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
you are sweeping, name it and place it over the
door. The person named will call.
1610. If you drop a broom while you are sweeping, you
will get a new carpet.
1611. Do not sweep under one's feet, for he will never be
rich.
1612. If you sweep under a sick person's bed, he will die,
1613. If you let any one sweep under your feet with a
broom, you will have bad luck.
1614. If you let some one sweep under your feet, you will
never be married.
1615. If you sweep your feet with a broom, you will never
be married.
1616. It brings bad luck to sweep dirt from a room out
of the door.
1617. If you sweep dirt out of your door during the first
part of the week, you will have bad luck all the
week.
1618. It causes bad luck to stir the fire with a broom.
1619. If the broom falls across the doorway, someone will
call.
1620. If two people sweep a floor together, they may ex-
pect bad luck.
1621. If you sweep after dark, you will bring sorrow to
your heart.
1622. If you sweep djrt out of the house at night, before
a month is over a member of the family will be
carried out the door a corpse.
1623. It brings bad luck to sweep a porch after night.
1624. If you take up ashes or sweep them out after four
o'clock in the afternoon, you will have bad luck.
136
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1625. If you sweep the house after the sun goes down,
you may expect a man caller.
1626. If you move the furniture in your sitting room
every month, you will have good luck.
1627. Never put your foot on a bed, for you will have bad
luck.
1628. If spinning rolls are not laid in the same direction
in which they come off the cards, they will not spin
Mountains
1629. It brings bad luck to sit on a trunk.
1630. If you turn a chair around, whoever sits down in it
will have bad luck all of his life.
1631. You will shorten your days if you turn a chair
around on one leg.
1632. To turn a chair around on one leg is a sign that you
will soon get a whipping.
1633. To avert the disaster incident to turning a chair
around, turn it in the reverse direction.
1634. It causes bad luck for anyone to put a foot on your
chair.
1635. If one unconsciously turns a chair, a calf will die. .
Mountains
1636. Two chairs with their backs together promise good
luck.
1637. Two chairs set back to back accidentally promise
company.
1638. It brings bad luck for a chair or a table to creak.
1639. The rocking of an empty rocking-chair indicates
the coming of bad luck.
1640. To rock a chair when no one is in it, is a sign that
you are rocking someone out of the family.
137
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1641. To avert the bad luck incident to rocking an unoc-
cupied chair, one may place a pillow in the chair.
1642. If you sit on the front edge of your chair, you are
of a grasping disposition Blue Grass
1643. It is a sign of death if an old clock strikes that has
not been running.
1644. If an old clock that has not been running strikes,
one of the family will die in the number of years
indicated by the number of the strokes.
1645. If a weight in the family clock falls, there will be a
death in the family.
1646. If the clock ticks loudly at midnight, there will be
a death in the family.
1647. If the family clock stops, there will be a death in
the family.
1648. It causes bad luck to have two clocks running in one
house Mountains
1649. A watch-tick sound in the wall is the sign of a death
in the family. A "death-ticking" in some article
of furniture is a sign of death.
1650. If you hear the furniture creaking, bad luck will
follow.
1651. If you hear the furniture crack in the night, there
will be a death.
1652. A creaking wall indicates death.
1653. To go in at one door and out at another indicates
that you will have company.
1654. A person will have bad luck who goes in at one door
and out at another.
1655. To stumble when going upstairs is a sign that you
will receive a letter.
1656. To hang out clothes after dark brings bad luck.
138
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1657. To shake out a table-cloth after dark brings ill luck.
1658. If you take a hoe or a spade into the house, someone
will dig your grave.
1659. If a hoe is carried through one door and out at an-
other, the youngest member of the family will die.
1660. If you carry a hoe through the house, your calf will
die Mountains
1661. It causes bad luck to throw a hoe over the fence.
1662. It brings bad luck to carry an axe into the house.
1663. Avert the bad luck of carrying a spade or an axe
into the house by carrying the implement out the
same way that it was brought in.
1664. It causes bad luck to step on an axe Mountains
1665. It brings bad luck to draw a rake or a hoe across a
porch.
1666. If you carry a plant into the house through one
door, you must take it out through the same door,
or a person in your family will soon die . Blue Grass
1667. If you pour some of the first of each milking into
the creek, the cow will not go dry.
1668. In milking if you throw milk on the ground, the
cow will go dry. Throw it into the running water.
1669. Lightning and thunder will sour milk.
1670. If you lend a churn, your cow will go blind or suffer
some other disaster Mountains
1671. You cannot make butter when elders are in bloom.
Mountains
1672. Hold a buttercup under your chin. If it casts a
reflection upon your chin, you like butter
Mountains
1673. If while currying a horse you drop a curry-comb
139
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
or brush, you will miss your aim that day in hunt-
ing.
1674. It causes bad luck to knock a vase off a mantel. . . .
Blue Grass
1675. If you iron the hem of your husband's shirt, you iron
his money away Central Kentucky
1676. It brings good luck to bury your fish bones
Mountains
1677. If a working woman leaves the place of her employ-
ment after five o'clock in the afternoon without at
least a morsel of food in her pocket, she will be
without food the next day Blue Grass
1678. If a working woman in leaving the place of her em-
ployment after five o'clock in the afternoon turns
back for a forgotten morsel of bread, she will have
bad luck. The bread must be brought to her
Blue Grass.
1679. It brings bad luck for the kettle to move on the
hearth without apparent cause.
1680. It brings bad luck for the door to push in and out
without wind.
1681. If your thread knots, you will die before the article
that is being made is worn out.
1682. If while hemming a napkin you prick your finger
and the blood gets on the napkin, you will die be-
fore it wears out Blue Grass
1683. If two people sew on the same piece at the same
time, the older will outlive the younger.
1684. If you accidentally drop a needle and it sticks into
the floor, some one is coming.
1685. To hang up the calendar before the old year is out
will bring you bad luck.
140
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1686. If you walk over a rug and turn up the edge, you
will have bad luck.
1687. If you walk back over a rug which you have turned
up at the edge, you will avert the bad luck.
1688. To pass any one on the stairs causes bad luck.
1689. If you stand in a friend's open door, you will bring
bad luck to that friend.
1690. You will have bad luck if you walk through a door
backward Western Kentucky
1691. It brings bad luck to go through a doorway when
some one is sitting in it.
1692. You will have bad luck if you bump against any one
while you pass through a door.
1693. Do not knock on your own door. Western Kentucky
1694. Never hang any thing on a door knob.
1695. If you break a glass door or a window, you are cer-
tain to have bad luck.
1696. It brings bad luck to shake hands across a door-silL
1697. It causes bad luck to jump out of a window unless
you jump in again backward.
1698. Shaking hands over a fence or a gate is unlucky.
1699. It brings bad luck to close an open gate.
1700. It is unlucky to touch an open gate.
1701. A bed should head toward the north.
1702. Never sleep with your head toward the east.
1703. You must not place your bed with the head to the
west, as that position is the one in which the dead
are buried.
1704. If you lie with your head out the door, you will die
before the year is out Blue Grass
1705. If you lie with your head toward the fire, you will
be ill.
141
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1706. "Early to bed and early to rise,
You'll be healthy, wealthy, witty and wise."
1707. It brings bad luck to get into bed over the foot-
board.
1708. It causes bad luck to climb over any one in bed.
1709. If you get into bed on the side opposite to the one
you are used to getting in, you will have bad luck.
1710. If you go to bed backwards, you will have pleasant
dreams.
1711. If you say your prayers after going to bed, you say
them to the Devil Central Kentucky
1712. If you go to bed thirsty, your spirit will wander off
and drink from foul mud-puddles Negroes
1713. If you go to bed very happy, you will awake ill the
next morning.
1714. If you laugh in bed, you will cry before morning.
1715. If you whistle in bed, you will cry before you retire
again.
1716. To sing in bed brings bad luck.
1717. If a solid crown of feathers is found in a pillow,
misfortune will fall on the household.
1718. If a cross of feathers is found in a pillow, misfor-
tune will fall on the household.
1719. If you get up in the morning with a feather in your
hair, you have slept one hour late Mountains
1720. If a person walking in his sleep is awakened, the
awakening will kill him.
1721. It brings bad luck for three people to make up one
bed.
1722. Never put a broom on the bed; it brings bad luck.
1723. To lay an umbrella on the bed causes bad luck.
1724. It brings bad luck to raise an umbrella over any
142
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
one's head in the house. He will not grow any
more.
1725. If you raise an umbrella in the house, you will have
bad luck.
1726. If a man gives a woman an umbrella, bad luck will
follow Louisville Negroes
1727. New sheets must not be slept in unlaundered, as the
occupant will have bad luck.
1728. It brings bad luck to keep a quilt of hexagonal pat-
tern. This pattern is sometimes called "Job's
Trouble" Central Kentucky
1729. In quilting, if you leave out a line, one in the fam-
ily will die Mountains
1730. You will have good luck if you use tablecloths,
towels, and the like before they are laundered.
1731. If two people use a towel at the same time, they
will fight.
1732. "Wash and wipe together,
You'll be good friends forever."
or
"Wash and wipe together,
Live and love forever."
1733. Do not empty the water that someone else has
washed in, as a quarrel will follow.
1734. If you wash in the same water that some one else
has used, the two of you will quarrel.
1735. When a candle is allowed to burn entirely out, a
death will follow.
1736. If a short flame rises from the candle, expect a small
stranger Central Kentucky
1737. If a long, straight flame rises from the candle, ex-
pect a tall stranger Central Kentucky
143
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1738. If a candle flame, instead of being straight, spreads
around the tallow, it forms a winding sheet and is
prophetic of death.
1739. A spark on the wick of a candle flame is the sign
that you are to receive a letter . . Central Kentucky
1740. If a guest blows out a candle, he will come again.
1741. If there are three candlesticks in a row, you must
move them to different parts of the room before
lighting them.
1742. It causes bad luck to let a lamp go out. You should
blow it out.
1743. If a lamp goes out in the room, there will be a death
in the family.
1744. It causes bad luck to bring a lighted lamp into a
room where there is one already lighted.
1745. You will have bad luck if you put two lamps on a
table at one time.
1746. It causes bad luck to have three lighted lamps in a
room.
1747. If you light a lamp after you sit down at the table,
some one will die Southern Kentucky
1748. You will have bad luck if a lamp chimney breaks in
your hand.
1749. As many times as it takes you to blow out the lamp,
just so many lies have you told Blue Grass
1750. If your lamp chimney breaks after you have gone
to bed, there will be a death in the family
Blue Grass
1751. It brings good luck to drop a knife if the blade
sticks into the ground. The direction towards
which the knife points is the one from which the
fortune will come.
i n
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1752. If you drop a table-knife, you will have a disap-
pointment.
1753. If you drop a knife at the table, the one who picks
it up will have good luck Blue Grass
1754. Do not give a sharp instrument to a friend of yours;
if you do, trouble will follow.
1755. Avert the ill luck that comes from giving a sharp
instrument to a friend by sticking the friend with
the sharp point.
1756. Avert the ill luck that arises from giving a sharp
instrument to a friend by receiving a penny.
1757. If a person lends you a knife open, return it open,
1758. If a person hands you a knife shut, return it shut.
1759. It brings good luck to find a knife open . Mountains
1760. "A dull knife, a dull wife" Mountains
1761. It causes bad luck to sit on a pair of scissors. .....
Mountains
1762. To sing at the table causes bad luck.
1763. If two forks are accidentally put at your plate, in-
stead of one knife and one fork, you will go to
New York Western Kentucky
1764. If by some mistake someone puts two forks by your
plate at the dinner table, you will go to a funeral
or a wedding. 1
1765. An accidental dropping of a knife brings a woman
caller.
1766. An accidental dropping of a fork brings a man
caller.
1767. If you drop a fork, your best friend is coming. . . .
Mountains
i Other superstitions concerning the accidental placement of two forks, two
knives, or two spoons at one's plate at table are given under Divinations.
145
KENTUCKY , SUPERSTITIONS
1768. If you drop your fork, some one is coming from
the direction in which the fork points.
1769. An accidental dropping of a spoon brings a child.
1770. If you drop a spoon, a baby will be born in the
family.
1771. If a spoon is dropped, a negro woman is coming. . .
Mountains
1772. If a large spoon is dropped, a large family is com-
ing.
1773. If you drop a tablespoon, you may look for a wo-
man and a baby Northern Kentucky
1774. The presence of two forks at one place at table
means that two fools are coming
Western Kentucky
1775. If you drop a knife during a meal, you are exactly
one half through the meal Central Kentucky
1776. If when you drop a knife and fork they cross, you
may expect bad luck North-eastern Kentucky
1777. To drop a spoon brings disappointment.
1778. It causes bad luck for a woman to break a plate and
step on the pieces.
1779. It brings bad luck to break any kind of dish.
1780. To avert ill luck, throw the pieces of a broken dish
into a gully.
1781. If you burn sassafras for stove wood, you will break
all the dishes Mountains
1782. The dropping of a dish-rag indicates the coming of
a caller. If it opens out when it falls, the guest
will arrive for the next meal.
1783. If you wish to prevent a visitor's arrival that has
been forecast by the dropping of a dish-rag, step
backward over the rag.
146
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1784. If a dish-rag that drops is spread out, a woman is
coming.
1785. If a dish-rag that falls is not spread out, a man is
coming.
1786. If when you drop a dish-rag on the floor you shake
it under the table and name it the person that you
wish to come, he will come .... Southern Kentucky
1787. If you drop a dish-cloth, pick it up, and think about
some one. The first one you think about will ar-
rive within an hour Mountains
1788. If after dropping a dish-rag you kiss it, your sweet-
heart will come Mountains
1789. If you drop a dish-rag, a slouch is coming.
If you drop a dish-rag, a worse slouch than you is
coming.
1790. If you drop a dish-rag and it spreads out, you will
have bad luck.
1791. If you drop a dish-rag and it does not unfold, no
bad luck will befall you.
1792. The boiling of a dish-rag in soiled water breaks bad
luck.
1793. If you drop a tea towel, someone is coming.
1794. If you leave your dish water in a pan over night,
you will dream of the Devil Blue Grass
1795. If a w T oman forgets to wash a skillet, she may ex-
pect a guest for the next meal.
1796. It brings bad luck to pour water out of a pail over
the end of the handle.
1797. If two women run together in preparing a meal,
they will work together next year.
1798. "A watched pot never boils."
1799. Lightning and thunder will addle eggs.
147
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1800. Make jelly on sunny days Mountains
1801. If you drop a spoon into pickles while you are
making them you will be a sour old woman
Blue Grass
1802. If you cook frog-legs and set them by, they will be-
come raw again Central Kentucky
1803. If when you are cooking onions you place a pan
of water over them, there will be no odor
Western Kentucky
1804. If you boil a biscuit with cabbage, there will be no
odor Western Kentucky
1805. If anything that may be eaten is burned, you will
have to pick it out of hell-fire with your hands in
the after-life.
1806. If you burn salt on the stove or in the grate, you
will have to pick each grain out of fire in hell.
1807. Be sure to throw a pinch of borrowed salt into the
fire.
1808. Do not return the salt that you have borrowed.
1809. It causes bad luck to spill salt.
1810. If you spill salt on the table, you will get a scolding
before Friday.
1811. If you spill salt between yourself and the person
next you at table, you two will quarrel.
1812. You can avert a quarrel from spilling salt by throw-
ing a pinch over your left shoulder.
1813. If salt is spilt at table, there will be a guest at the
next meal.
1814. If salt is passed you at table, it passes you trouble.
1815. If salt is thrown away, bad luck will follow.
181<. If you throw salt into a whirlwind, you will see the
Devil Mountains
148
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1817. If you throw salt behind someone who has done you
a bad deed, he will never return . Louisville Negroes
1818. If someone comes to your house whom you do not
like, throw salt into his tracks. He will then not
bring you bad luck Louisville Negroes
1819. When a stand of pepper is overturned, there will
be bad luck, unless the person who turns it over
burns an old dish-rag.
1820. If the pepper falls toward you from a pepper stand,
you will have bad luck.
1821. Do not eat too much meat, for, if you do, your face
will become roughened.
1822. If you eat too much meat at supper, you will have
bad dreams.
1823. If you eat meat for supper, you will dream of ne-
groes Southern Kentucky
1824. If you drop a piece of meat from your mouth at
the table, there will be a death in the family
Louisville Negroes
1825. If you drop anything while you are eating, the act
indicates that someone else desires it.
1826. Eat a dozen onions before you go to bed, to become
beautiful.
1827. Eat a pickle, to settle your love.
1828. If you eat the crust of bread, your hair will become
curly.
1829. If you eat burnt bread, your hair will become curly.
1830. If you take the last biscuit on the plate, you will
have to kiss the cook. 1
1831. To take the last portion from a dish brings bad luck.
iFor other signs connected with taking the last biscuit, or the last but
one, on a plate, see Divinations, numbers 227-231.
149
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1832. If you drop a biscuit while taking the bread from
the stove, a hungry person will call.
1833. If you drop a biscuit, you will marry a poor man. .
Western Kentucky
1834. It causes bad luck to break bread in anybody else's
hand.
1835. If you break bread in your friend's hand, the act is
said to bring bad luck.
1836. If you count the biscuits as you put them into the
pan, they will not be good Central Kentucky
1837. If someone gives you a cake of yeast, do not thank
him. If you do, the bread will not come.
1838. If you burn bread, you and Satan will have to pick
that amount out of hell-fire.
1839. When the cook's bread burns, her husband is angry,
1840. The burning of bread shows that the cook is angry,
1841. If you burn the biscuits, your sweetheart is angry
with you.
1842. If you burn the bread, your sweetheart is thinking
of you.
1843. If you burn your bread, you may expect the arrival
of a black-headed person Blue Grass
1844. It brings bad luck to stir bread toward you.
1845. It causes good luck to stir the bread away from you.
1846. If bread or cake rises and then suddenly falls, the
maker's digestion is bad.
1847. Bread should be set to rise before the sun rises.
1848. If you bake bread after the sun goes down, your
bread will also go down.
1849. If the bread cracks open while you are baking it,
there will be an increase in the family . . Mountains
150
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1850. If you put too much soda into the bread, someone is
coming Blue Grass
1851. A loaf of bread on its back means that a ship is in
distress at sea.
1852. If you serve yourself to butter or bread when you
already have butter and bread, someone is coming
hungry.
1853. When you bake a cake, do not burn the egg shells
until the cake has risen, but burn them then.
1854. Place egg shells on the top of the oven, to make the
cake rise Mountains
1855. In cake-baking if you burn the egg shells before the
cake has risen, the cake will burn Mountains
1856. If you bake a cake in the afternoon, it will sink as
the sun sinks.
1857. If you bake a cake in the morning, it will rise as
the sun ascends.
1858. Do not make a cake on a rainy day, for it will not
rise well.
1859. It is a good sign to have a piece of pie point to-
ward you.
1860. If a piece of pie is pointed toward you, you may ex-
pect a letter that day.
1861. If a piece of pie points half-way around, you may
expect a letter the next day.
1862. If a piece of pie points more than half-way around,
you may expect a letter later on.
1863. If you cut the point off a piece of pie and eat it
last, you will get a letter.
1864. If the point of another person's piece of pie is di-
rected toward you and the person begins eating his
piece at this point, you will get a letter.
151
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1865. It causes bad luck to begin eating pie at the point.
1866. If the crust end of a piece of pie is placed next to
you, you will get a postcard.
1867. If in drinking you look above the rim of the glass,
you are a flirt.
1868. If at the table you do not drink all your milk or
water, you will be disappointed soon
Southern Kentucky
1869. If you have water in your glass and pour more into
it, there will be trouble.
1870. If you pour water into a glass that already contains
water, you will quarrel with your mother-in-law.
1871. It brings bad luck to burn coffee Mountains
1872. It causes bad luck to stir the coffee pot with a knife
or fork.
1873. "Stir with a knife,
Stir up strife."
1874. If you drink all the coffee from your cup, so that
upon the turning of it over no drop comes out, you
will cry later Louisville Negroes
1875. If you can get a bubble off the coffee and drink it,
you will receive money.
1876. If you fail to get a bubble off the coffee, you will
lose money.
1877. Never drink a cup of coffee at five o'clock, or you
will die Mountains
1878. After a meal if the coffee cup is left outside the
saucer, there will be bad luck Mountains
1879. To leave coffee in a cup causes disappointment. .
Blue Grass
1880. The presence of tea grounds on tea is a sign of
people coming.
152
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1881. It causes bad luck to change places at the table.
1882. Do not cross hands with another at the table.
1883. It brings bad luck for two people at table to reach
for the same thing at the same time.
1884. If two reach for bread at the same time, someone is
coming hungry.
1885. If you sing at the table, you will miss your next
visitor.
1886. "Sing before breakfast, cry before night."
1887. If you sing before breakfast, you will get a whip-
ping before the week is gone.
1888. If you sneeze at the table, you will hear of a death
before night.
DREAMS
1889. "Dreams go by contraries."
1890. "A dream out of season,
Trouble out of reason."
1891. Morning dreams come true.
1892. If you tell a dream before breakfast, it will come
true.
1893. A dream told before breakfast on Friday morning
will come true.
1894. "Friday night's dream on Saturday told
Is sure to come true be it ever so old."
1895. "Saturday dreamed and Sunday told
Is sure to come true before a month old."
1896. If you sleep with the dream bone, taken from the
ham of a hog, under your pillow, your dreams will
come true Mountains
1897. If some one goes to a strange place and sleeps under
strange covers, his dreams will come true.
153
KENTUCKY, SUPERSTITIONS
1898. What you dream on the first night that you sleep
under a new roof will come true.
1899. If you sleep under a new quilt, your dream will
come true.
1900. If you tell your dreams to an old hollow stump,
they will come true Mountains
1901. If you dream of the same thing three times, it will
come true.
1902. When one has the same dream more than once, the
dream will come true.
1903. If you do not wish to dream, put both shoes under
the foot of your bed at night.
1904. To dream of an angel is a sign of death . Mountains
1905. If you dream of a baby, you will hear of a death.
1906. To dream of a bakery means that you will awake
with cream puffs in your hand.
1907. To dream of bees at work means good luck
Mountains
1908. It brings bad luck to dream about catching a bird.
1909. If you dream of blasting, one of your close friends
will be shot soon Mountains
1910. It brings bad luck to dream of being blind
Western Kentucky
1911. To dream of blood is the sign of coming disgrace.
1912. To dream of your brother or sister is a sign of
sudden death in your family . . . Louisville Negroes
1913. If you dream of cats, you will have bad luck
Blue Grass
1914. If you dream of cats, you will find money
Mountains
1915. To dream of a black cat is a sign that some of your
relatives are treacherous Western Kentucky
154
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1916. A dream of good children is followed by good luck.
1917. To dream of black clouds is a harbinger of bad luck.
1918. To dream of a coffin is the sign of a death in the
family Mountains
1919. It is a good sign to dream of a filled coffin
Mountains
1920. It is a bad sign to dream of an empty coffin
Mountains
1921. It is a sign of death to dream of a fine-tooth comb
Mountains
1922. To dream that you cry is a sign that you will take
a journey.
1923. If you dream of the dead, you will live a long time
Central Kentucky Negroes
1924. To dream of the dead is to hear from the living.
1925. A dream of one dead is a sign that the one dreamed
of wishes you to pray for him.
1926. It is a sign of rain to dream of a dead person. . . .
Mountains
1927. In dreaming of falling through the air, one ordi-
narily wakes before striking the ground. If he
dreams that he strikes, or if in any way he dreams
that he is killed, he will die.
1928. A dream of death is a sign of birth.
A dream of birth is a sign of marriage.
A dream of marriage is a sign of death.
1929. A dream of diamonds is a good-luck sign.
1930. It causes bad luck to dream of freshly dug earth. .
Mountains
1931. It causes bad luck to dream of eating.
1932. If you dream of many eggs, you will receive much
money Western Kentucky
155
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1933. If you dream of eggs, you will be angry.
1934. A dream of eggs is a sign of enemies.
1935. To dream of unbroken eggs is a sign of trouble to
come.
1936. If you dream of broken eggs, your troubles are past.
1937. It is a good luck sign to dream of eggs if they are
not broken.
1938. It brings bad luck to dream of broken eggs.
1939. To dream of seeing one's eyes other than bright and
healthy is a sign of bad luck Mountains
1940. If you dream of falling, bad luck will follow.
1941. To dream of fire is a sign of enjoyment. Blue Grass
1942. To dream of fire is a sign of the return of some
relative Western Kentucky
1943. If you dream of fire, you are too warm.
1944. If you dream of fire, you will be angry
Central Kentucky
1945. A dream of catching large fish is a harbinger of
prosperity.
1946. It means bad luck to dream of flowers, especially
white roses.
1947. A dream of flying is a sign that you are climbing
upward Mountains
1948. If you dream of flying, pleasant things await you
next day Western Kentucky
1949. If you dream of a friend in distress and hear him
cry out, you will receive news of an accident to him.
1950. A dream of perfect fruit is a forerunner of pros-
perity.
1951. A dream of imperfect fruit is a sign of bad luck.
1952. "Dream of fruit out of season,
You'll have trouble out of reason."
156
KENTUCKY . SUPERSTITIONS
1953. To dream of a funeral procession is a sign of death
Blue Grass
1954. To dream about the firing of a gun is unlucky.
1955. It brings good luck to dream of heaven. Blue Grass
1956. A dream of helping somebody to dress is a sign of
a sudden death Central Kentucky
1957. If you dream of finding a hen's nest, you will have
good luck Mountains
1958. It is a sign of good luck to dream of being on a
very high place Blue Grass
1959. To dream of a hog is a sign of bad luck. . Mountains
1960. It brings good luck to dream of a bay horse.
1961. It causes bad luck to dream of a black horse
Mountains
1962. It brings good luck to dream of a gray horse
Mountains
1963. To dream of sorrel horses is an indication of good
luck Central Kentucky
1964. If you dream of a white horse, you will hear of a
death before the week is out. To dream of white
horses is a sign of bad luck Southern Kentucky
1965. If you dream of a gray horse, you will get a letter
Southern Kentucky
1966. It brings bad luck to dream of the death of a horse
Blue Grass
1967. To dream of the Judgment Day is a sign of death
inside of a month Mountains
1968. If you dream of a letter, you will see a stranger. . .
Mountains
1969. A dream of lice in your head is a sign of approach-
ing illness.
157
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1970. To dream about new lumber is a sign of bad luck
Mountains
1971. A dream of marriage means that a death is near.
1972. If you dream of milk, there will be an increase in
the family Mountains
1973. It brings bad luck to dream of money
Southern Kentucky
1974. To dream of money is a sign of illness. .Mountains
1975. To dream of large pieces of money is a good-luck
sign.
1976. To dream of small coins means that bad luck is in
store for you.
1977. It is lucky to dream of silver money.
1978. It augurs good luck to dream of paper money ....
Mountains
1979. To dream of seeing the moon is a sign of good luck,
1980. It brings bad luck to see the moon in a dream.
1981. It is a sign of death to dream of more than one
moon.
1982. It brings bad luck to dream about mules . Mountains
1983. To dream of a necklace is a sign of jealousy
Mountains
1984. It causes very bad luck to dream of negroes
Mountains
1985. You will quarrel with some one if you dream of a
negro.
1986. A dream of a negro man is a sign of the coming of
a friend Mountains
1987. A dream of a negro woman is the sign of the com-
ing of an enemy Mountains
1988. To dream of riding is a sign of fleeting pleasure. . .
Western Kentucky
158
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
1989. It indicates bad luck to dream that you strike the
bottom of a river in diving
Central Kentucky Negroes
1990. To dream of a house with many rooms is a sign of
bad luck.
1991. A dream of teeth is a sign of death.
1992. If you dream that your teeth fall out, there will be
a death.
1993. If you dream that you lose a tooth, you will lose a
friend.
1994. If you dream that your jaw teeth fall out, an elder-
ly person will die.
1995. If you dream that your side teeth fall out, a mid-
dle-aged person will die.
1996. If you dream that your front teeth fall out, a child
will die.
1997. If you dream that your front teeth fall out, a mem-
ber of your family will die.
1998. If you dream that your back teeth fall out, a dis-
tant relative will die.
1999. If you dream of a turkey, you will shortly see a fool.
2000. A dream of vermin augurs serious illness among
your friends Blue Grass
2001. To dream of sheep is a sign of bad luck. . Mountains
2002. If you dream about old shoes, you will hear of a
death Blue Grass
2003. It causes bad luck to dream that you lose a shoe . . .
Southern Kentucky
2004. It brings bad luck to dream about being shot
Mountains
2005. If you dream of smoke, there will be a death.
2006. A dream of a snake is a sign that you have enemies.
159
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2007. If you dream that you have killed a snake, the
dream is a sign that you have killed an enemy.
2008. You will have bad luck if you dream of being bitten
by a snake Mountains
2009. A dream about snow is a sign of disappointment or
loss Central Kentucky
2010. It brings good luck to dream of a squirrel
Mountains
2011. To dream of a strange place is a sign of good luck.
2012. If you dream of eating a dish of strawberries, you
will be in a large, new crowd.
2013. If you dream of a white swan, you may expect a
death in the family.
2014. If you dream of sweeping, you will receive a letter
Mountains
2015. It is a sign of bad luck or death to dream of a
wagon.
2016. To dream of a wagon moving away from you is a
sign of death Mountains
2017. If you dream of water, you are too cold.
2018. You will have good luck if you dream of clear water.
2019. If you dream of muddy water, your best friend is
angry with you.
2020. A dream of walking through muddy water is a
death sign.
2021. If you sleep on wedding-cake, your dream will come
true. 1
2022. To dream of anything solid white is a sign of death.
i Divination in connection with sleeping on wedding cake is treated under
Divinations, numbers 602, 603, 604, 693.
160
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
DRESS
2023. "If a pin points toward you and you let it lay.
You'll have bad luck all that day.
If you see a pin and pick it up,
All that day you'll have good luck."
2024. "See a pin and let it lie
Sorrow will come by and by."
"Find a pin, and let it lie,
You'll want a pin before you die."
2025. If you find a pin with the point toward you and
place it on the shoulder of your coat with the point
toward the back, and leave it there for three days,
good luck will come to you.
2026. If you see a pin with the point toward you and pick
it up and stick it into wood, you will have good
luck. If the point is away from you, pick it up and
give it to someone else for good luck. . .Blue Grass
2027. If you find a pin with the head towards you, there
is mail for you at the Post Office Mountains
2028. If you pick up a pin lying with its side toward you,
you will get a letter.
2029. If you find a pin lying with its side toward you, you
will go buggy-riding the next day.
2030. If you pick up a pin lying with its side toward you,
you will receive a kiss, or you will see your sweet-
heart that day.
2031. If you find a pin with the side towards you, you
will get a new dress Mountains
2032. If anyone takes a pin from your dress, bad luck will
follow Louisville Negroes
161
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2033. If a pin stands on the point in your dress, someone
is "on his head" to see you.
2034. If when you are trying on a dress, the dressmaker
sticks a pin in your other clothes, you will not be
married that year Blue Grass
2035. To prick your finger as you pin your waist is un-
lucky.
2036. Avert the disaster of the last mentioned supersti-
tion by burning the pin.
2037. It brings good luck to find a brass pin, if you stick
it on your shoulder Western Kentucky
2038. You will lose a friend if you give a person a pin,
She must pick it up after you lay it down.
2039. If you drop a pin and it sticks into the floor, some-
one is coming.
2040. You will have good luck if you find a safety pin.
2041. It is unlucky to find a safety pin in water, for a
sad visit awaits you Blue Grass
2042. If a needle falls and sticks into the floor, you will
have bad luck.
2043. If you break a needle in a garment while making
it, the person for whom it is made will not live to
wear it out.
2044. If you find a hairpin and hang it up on the first
thing you see, you will get a letter.
2045. If you find a hairpin and hang it on the first nail
you see, you will get a friend.
2046. If you find a hairpin, hang it on a nail or anything
iron. It will bring good luck.
2047. If your hairpin drops out of your hair, someone
whom you like is thinking of you
Louisville Negroes
162
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2048. If a woman drops a hairpin and fails to pick it up,
she will lose a friend.
2049. If you pick up a hairpin, you will fall. . . Mountains
2050. If a hairpin is about to come out of a girl's hair,
someone is "on his head" about her
Western Kentucky
2051. If you accidentally leave your gloves and have to
go back for them, the next person you call on will
be out.
2052. It is unlucky to pick up an old glove in the street.
2053. If you find a wet handkerchief, you may know that
all your tears have been shed and that you will live
happily Blue Grass
2054. The moonstone is a lucky stone.
2055. If you wear an opal ring and it is not your birth-
stone, you will have bad luck.
2056. If you wear an opal ring and it is not your birth-
stone, you must give it away to avoid bad luck.
2057. If you wear pearls, you will shed tears.
2058. If you count pearls in a ring or a brooch, you will
lose them.
2059. When danger is imminent to a person who has
pearls, they lose their lustre.
2060. It brings good luck to carry a piece of pearl jewelry
Mountains
2061. Do not let anyone take a ring off your finger.
2062. If you take a ring off your friend's hand, you will
have bad luck.
2063. Turn one hundred seal rings for good luck.
2064. If you find a button and put it into your shoe, you
will have good luck.
2065. If you find a button, you will receive a letter soon.
163
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2066. It causes bad luck to find a button smaller than a
penny Mountains
2067. The finding of a pearl button means that there is
a letter for you in the Post Office
Central Kentucky
2068. If you find a button with so many holes in it, you
will receive a letter with the same number of pages
Mountains
2069. When you find a button, count the holes in it. You
will find that number of pieces of money before
you come to your stopping place . Central Kentucky
2070. To carry in your pocket a button that you have
found brings good luck.
2071. To sew a button on a garment that you are wearing
brings bad luck.
2072. If you drop a comb, somebody is coming.
2073. If you drop a comb, you will be disappointed.
2074. If the comb with which you are combing your hair
falls behind you, you will have trouble
Western Kentucky
2075. Avert the bad luck of dropping a comb by putting
your foot on it Central Kentucky
2076. If you are combing your hair and let the comb fall,
you will get money Louisville Negroes
2077. It brings bad luck to count the teeth of a comb ....
Mountains
2078. If you count comb teeth, the youngest one in the
family will die.
2079. Do not count the teeth of a comb, for if you do they
will come out Southern Kentucky
2080. When your skirt turns up, spit on it and turn it
down, to obtain good luck.
164
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2081. If your dress is turned up, spit on it, and turn it
down, to get a new one.
2082. If the hem of a dress is turned up, and someone calls
the wearer's attention to it, the wearer will get a
new dress Blue Grass
2083. If the hem of a girl's dress is turned up, the person
calling her attention to this fact will get a new
dress Blue Grass
2084. If a girl's dress turns up and she spits on it, she will
become wealthy.
2085. If a part of the hem of your skirt is turned up, and
you spit on it, you will have a joyful day.
2086. If your skirt turns up, you will catch a sweetheart.
2087. If you tear a hole in a new dress before it is washed,
you will have good luck Western Kentucky
2088. It is a sign of bad luck to tear your dress behind . . .
Western Kentucky
2089. If you drop ink on a new white dress, you may look
for company.
2090. If your underskirt hangs, you will have to shovel
coal Mountains
2091. If your petticoat hangs lower than your skirt, your
father loves you better than your mother does.
2092. If a woman kicks up her dress behind, she is a thief.
2093. After a number of boys have been in swimming, the
boy who after dressing puts on his cap or hat first
will have good luck.
2094. If a boy or a man comes into the house with his hat
on, he will have bad luck.
2095. It causes bad luck to place your hat higher than
your head.
2096. It brings bad luck to lay a hat on a bed.
165
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2097. If you put two hats on your head, you will get a
whipping Louisville Negroes
2098. If you put on two hats, you will get a double-whip-
ping Louisville Negroes
2099. If a wife loses her apron, she will lose her husband.
2100. If you lose your apron, you will lose your best
friend.
2101. If a woman drops her apron, she will lose one of her
friends Mountains
2102. "A stitch in time saves nine" (felt by many as a
superstition.)
2103. To sew a garment that you are wearing is a sign of
bad luck or death.
2104. If you mend a garment on you, there will be a slan-
der about you with as many words as you put
stitches into the garment Mountains
2105. You can avert the hard luck that follows the mend-
ing of a garment while you are wearing it by hold-
ing a straw in your mouth.
2106. If you talk while sewing something that is on you,
a lie will be told about you for every stitch taken
while you were talking.
2107. It causes bad luck to sew new pieces on an old gar-
ment Blue Grass Negroes
2108. If you leave the bastings in a dress, the dress is not
paid for.
2109. It brings bad luck to sew polka-dotted goods
North-eastern Kentucky
2110. You will have bad luck if you make clothes for peo-
ple who are ill Blue Grass
2111. If any kind of garment is made or bought for a sick
person, that person will never get well. .Mountains
166
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2112. If you tear a garment, you may break the spell of
a bad luck sign that is connected with it.
2113. It brings good luck to put on clothes accidentally
wrong side out.
2114. Clothes put on in the morning wrong side out, if
changed at twenty minutes past one, will bring
good luck.
2115. If you put a garment on wrong side out and dis-
cover the mistake yourself, you may change it with-
out bad luck.
2116. A person wearing a garment inside out will have
good luck if he turns the garment right side out
at midnight.
2117. After you have on your clothes wrong side out, it is
bad luck to change.
2118. If you put your clothes on wrong side out and some-
one else than you takes them off, good luck re-
mains North-eastern Kentucky
2119. If you burn a hole in a new garment and wear it,
there will be a death.
2120. If two women help a third to dress, the youngest
of the three will die.
2121. If you put your night gown on inside out by mis-
take, there will be a fire in town soon . . . Mountains
2122. It brings bad luck to the passengers if a woman
dressed in black gets on a passenger train at night.
2123. It causes bad luck to meet a woman dressed in black,
after midnight.
2124. It brings bad luck to put a black pin into a white
dress North-eastern Kentucky
2125. It brings bad luck to put a white pin into a black
dress. North-eastern Kentucky
167
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2126. It brings bad luck to put on the left stocking first.
2127. A hole in your stocking indicates that you will get
a letter. The size of the letter depends on the size
of the hole Blue Grass
2128. It is well for an aviator to wear a lady's stocking
about his neck.
2129. If you dress one foot entirely before beginning the
other, you will have bad luck.
2130. Put on the left garter and the right shoe first for
luck Central Kentucky
2131. Remove the left shoe and the right garter first for
luck Central Kentucky
2132. If you put your left shoe on before your right, you
will have a headache Mountains
2133. To put the left shoe on the right foot is to produce
misfortune for yourself.
2134. If you pull off your right shoe first, you will never
have toothache Blue Grass
2135. It causes bad luck to walk with one shoe off and
one shoe on.
2136. It brings bad luck to walk around in one shoe be-
cause you will measure your mother's grave
Louisville Negroes
2137. If a child walks about with one shoe off and the
other on, he will receive as many whippings as he
takes steps Mountains
2138. As many steps as you take in one shoe, so many
steps do you take into trouble Mountains
2139. For every step that you take with one shoe on and
one off, you will have one year of misfortune
Mountains
168
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2140. Never lace one shoe until you have put the other
one on Mountains
2141. It causes bad luck to button the top button of your
shoe first North-eastern Kentucky
2142. If the soles of your shoes are of black leather, your
teeth will become loose Blue Grass
2143. If your shoe-string comes untied, somebody is talk-
ing about you.
2144. Your left shoe-string untied shows that someone is
speaking evil of you.
2145. Your right shoe-string untied shows that someone
is speaking well of you.
2146. "If you wear your shoes out on the side,
you will be a rich man's bride."
2147. "If you wear your shoes out on the toe,
You will spend money as you go."
2148. If you wear your shoes out in the middle of the sole
first, you will be rich some day . . Central Kentucky
2149. Put your shoes with the points away from the bed,
so that bad dreams may walk away from you.
2150. If you set your shoes under the bed always turn the
toes out. To turn them in is a sign of bad luck
during the night.
2151. If you put your shoes above your head, on the table
or on the bed, you will have very bad luck.
2152. If you put your shoes higher than your head in the
closet, you will never be married.
2153. It brings bad luck to place your stockings in your
shoes when you are going to bed.
2154. Be sure to place your shoes at night with the inner
sides against each other.
169
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2155. If you spit on your shoe accidentally, you will get
a new pair of shoes Mountains
2156. If you wear a hairpin in your shoe, you will meet a
good friend.
2157. Put sugar into your shoe, to coax your trousers
down Central Kentucky
2158. If your shoes squeak, they are not paid for.
2159. An old shoe is a sign of good luck.
2160. If you burn an old shoe, you will have rheumatism.
2161. If you lose one of your rubbers, it is a sign that you
are going to lose one of your friends.
SHADOWS, PORTRAITS, AND REFLECTIONS
2162. If you sit with your shadow thrown on the water,
you will not catch fish Mountains
2163. If a portrait hangs on the wall crooked, there will
be bad luck Louisville Negroes
2164. If you turn a picture of a friend of yours upside
down, he will have a headache . . Louisville Negroes
2165. If you hang your sweetheart's photograph upside
down, he will die soon Blue Grass Negroes
2166. If a portrait falls, there will be bad luck.
2167. It a portrait falls from the wall, someone in the
family will die Louisville Negroes
2168. The falling of anyone's picture means death in the
household. When the death occurs, the clock stops
until after the funeral.
2169. If a large family portrait falls, there will be a death
Blue Grass
2170. If a portrait falls, you will have a quarrel with the
original.
170
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2171. If a portrait falls in a room where someone is dead,
the original will die.
2172. If a portrait falls in a room where someone is dead,
the original will die within three years.
2173. To have a picture drop out of a frame is a bad
omen Southern Kentucky
2174. It is a bad luck sign to hear knocking behind a pic-
ture Blue Grass
2175. If the glass on a picture breaks of its own accord,
a death will occur in your family Mountains
2176. If your photograph is buried by an enemy, your
life will fade as the photograph fades.
2177. If you draw a picture of your enemy and shoot it
with a silver bullet, he will suffer pain where the
bullet strikes.
2178. Bury the picture of your enemy face down in the
direction that Jesus Christ was buried, that is, with
head toward the west. As the picture fades, your
enemy's life will fade Mountains
2179. If you break your mirror, you will have seven years
of trouble.
2180. Avert the penalty attached to breaking a mirror by
throwing all the pieces into running water.
2181. If you break a mirror, the number of pieces will
indicate the number of years of bad luck that you
will have Louisville Negroes
2182. It brings bad luck for two people to look into a
mirror at the same time Blue Grass
2183. If two people look into a mirror at the same time,
they will both be disappointed before the day is
gone Southern Kentucky
171
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2184. If two persons look into a mirror at the same time,
one will soon die Negroes
2185. It brings bad luck to look into a mirror while you
are putting on your night gown.
2186. To look into a mirror at night brings bad luck. . . .
Mountains
2187. If you look into a mirror after dark, you will see
the Devil Mountains
2188. If you see your image double in the mirror, your
death will follow Central Kentucky
2189. To see one's shadow while one is looking into a mir-
ror is a sign of death Mountains
2190. It brings bad luck to look into a mirror when one is
ill Blue Grass
2191. If while lying in bed you see yourself in a mirror,
you may expect bad luck or death.
2192. To look into a mirror over anyone else's shoulder
leads to disappointment Blue Grass
2193. If you see a dead man's face in a mirror, you will
be the next one to die.
2194. If a mirror hangs in a room where a death occurs,
turn it to the wall or cover it, as the first person that
sees himself in it will be the next one to die.
2195. If you look into a mirror while you are drinking,
you will never be married Blue Grass
MOON 1 AND SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC
2196. If a stray dog howls in the moonlight with his nose
pointed at a person, that person will die
Western Kentucky
i For weather signs connected with the moon, see Weather, numbers 2572-
2594.
172
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2197. If the moon stays away all night, there has been
much robbery going on during the night
Mountains
2198. Moonlight will dull a razor. . . . Southern Kentucky
2199. If you sleep in the moonlight, you will have rheu-
matism.
2200. If you sleep in the moonlight, you will become in-
sane.
2201. It makes one homely to sleep with the moon shining
on his face North-eastern Kentucky
2202. If you shoot toward the moon, you will fall dead. .
Mountains
2203. If you see the reflection of the moon in a well, you
will have good luck Southern Kentucky
2204. A red moon is a sign of war.
2205. If you can see a woman in the moon, you will obtain
riches Mountains
2206. If you can see a man in the moon, you will have bad
luck Mountains
2207. It is lucky to look at a dollar while the moon is
shining upon it over your left shoulder.
2208. It brings bad luck to see a woman combing her hair
in the full of the moon. . .North-eastern Kentucky
2209. People who have moods of meanness are ruled by
the moon.
2210. If you plant seeds in the moonlight, the crops will
be good.
2211. If you plant your seed in the full moon, you will
have bad luck.
2212. To see the new moon over the left shoulder is an
omen of bad luck.
173
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2213. To see the new moon over the right shoulder brings
good luck.
2214. To see the new moon through brush or clouds por-
tends more or less trouble until after the moon
fulls.
2215. After you have seen the new moon through trees,
you will have trouble that month if you are not
good.
2216. If you look at the moon through the tops of trees,
your sister or brother will die Mountains
2217. If you see the moon through brush that makes a
cross, you will have bad luck. If the brush is
straight, for example, canebrush, you will come to
no harm Central Kentucky
2218. If you see the new moon through brush, you will
shed as many tears as any vessel will hold that you
have in your hand Mountains
2219. It means good luck to you to see the new moon clear
of clouds and brush, especially if you take hold of a
piece of money and turn it over in your pocket.
2220. When you see the new moon clear, kiss the first per-
son you meet, so that you may get a new dress ....
Blue Grass
2221. It causes bad luck to you if you look at the new
moon through a pane of glass.
2222. If you look through the window at a new moon,
there will be illness in the family.
2223. It is unlucky for a bride and groom to see a new
moon out of a car window . North-eastern Kentucky
2224. If you see the moon as you go up hill, you will have
good luck Blue Grass
174
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2225. If you see the moon as you go down hill, you will
have bad luck Blue Grass
2226. It is a sign of fire to see the new moon through tele-
phone wires.
2227. Show the new moon a piece of money.
2228. If you have some money in your pockets when you
see a new moon, look over your shoulder, and you
will never be bankrupt Mountain
2229. If you show your pocket-book to the new moon, you
will have twice as much money in it .... Mountains
If you shake an empty pocket-book at the new
moon, you will have it full of money before the next
new moon Mountains
2230. If you see the new moon with something in your
hand, you will receive a present.
2231. The thing that you hold in your hand when you see
a new moon will trouble you all the month
Blue Grass
2232. When you see the new moon, stop, reach down, and
get some dirt out from under your left heel, tie it
in a rag, and put it under your pillow. What you
dream will come true Mountains
2233. The first appearance of a new moon on Saturday is
lucky.
2234. If the new moon appears on Saturday, there will
be rain for the next forty days Mountains
2235. Vegetables that mature under ground must be
planted in the dark of the moon.
2236. Vegetables that mature above ground must be
planted in the light of the moon.
2237. Plant root vegetables in the dark of the moon, vege-
tables for leaves (as cabbage and lettuce) in the
175
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
new moon, and vegetables for blossoms and fruit
(as peas and beans) in the full moon.
2238. For little vine, plant in the dark of the moon. If
potatoes are planted in the light of the moon, the
crop will be near the ground.
2239. Only Irish potatoes, say some, should be planted in
the dark of the moon.
2240. If you plant potatoes when the sign of the zodiac 1 is
in the heart, the insects will not attack them
Mountains
2241. All tuber plants should be planted in the dark of
the moon, say some. This opinion contradicts the
superstition that only Irish potatoes should be
planted in the dark of the moon. For example,
corn should be planted in the dark of the moon,
so that the ear will be low and large.
2242. Plant asters in the light of the moon. . .Blue Grass
2243. Plant flowers in the light of the moon, that they
may be large and beautiful.
2244. Plant flowers (everything in which vine is desired)
when the sign is in the fingers.
2245. Plant all vines in the light of the moon.
2246. Sow grass always in the light of the moon.
2247. Plant melons, cucumbers, and the like when the sign
is in the twins.
2248. Crops will not be successful if planted in the new
moon.
2249. If anyone becomes ill in a March that has two new
moons, he will die.
iMany people, especially in rural communities in Kentucky, are guided in
their daily actions by the sign of the zodiac, the position of which at any time
is shown by almanacs.
176
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2250. Early in the fall and late in spring, frost in the new
moon does not bite much.
2251. If you gather apples in the light of the moon, the
bruises will dry up.
2252. If you gather apples in the light of the moon, they
will not rot.
2253. Beans should be planted when the sign is in the
arm Central Kentucky
2254. Butterbeans should be planted when the sign of the
zodiac is in the arm.
2255. Briars should be cut up in August when the sign
is in the heart.
2256. Cabbages planted when the sign is in the head will
be large.
2257. If you plant your cabbage on Friday when the moon
is new, it will not be killed by the frost . . Mountains
2258. Plant corn when the sign is in the arms.
2259. Corn grows more rapidly in the light than in the
dark of the moon.
2260. If you plant your cucumbers or pumpkin seeds
when the sign is in the heart, the insects will eat
them up.
2261. Transplant a blooming flower in the light of the
moon.
2262. Fruit is never killed during the light of the moon. .
Western Kentucky
2263. Do not plant onion sets when the sign is up, for they
will jump out of the ground, and you will have to
replant them after the sign changes.
2264. Plant trees before the moon is old. As many days
as you wait, so many years you will wait for fruit
Blue Grass
177
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2265. The new of the moon is the time to kill timber.
2266. Never peel the bark to a tree during a dark moon.
2267. If you cut the weeds out of your yard in the dark
of the moon in March, they will not come again.
2268. If you cut a few inches of bark from the trunk of a
tree on the twenty-fifth of May in the light of the
moon, the tree will die Blue Grass
2269. To kill a tree so that it will not sprout, cut it down
or mutilate it in the dark of the May moon in June
Blue Grass*
2270. Deaden locust trees in the dark of the moon.
2271. Obviate the presence of locust sprouts by killing the
tree in the dark of the moon in August.
2272. Trim trees when the sign is in the heart in August,
the best time of the whole year for that purpose . . ,
Blue Grass
2273. If you prune a tree in the light of the moon, it will
not die.
2274. If peach trees are in bloom during the light of the
moon, they will not freeze, however cold it may be,
2275. If osage-orange bushes are cut down in the dark of
the moon in August, they will not grow again.
2276. Peel tan bark in the light of the moon, so that it
will slip with ease.
2277. Wean a calf, horse, or mule colt just after the new
moon. Otherwise they will fret.
2278. Calves will cry for the mother cow, unless they are
weaned when the sign of the zodiac is in the legs.
2279. If you wean a calf in the light of the moon, the cow
will not "bawl."
2280. If you wean a colt when the sign is in the heart, it
will cry itself to death.
178
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2281. When calves, colts, pigs, and so forth are altered,
let it be when the sign is in the leg, that is, between
the knee and the ankle.
2282. Some say that it is in the altering only of colts that
you need wait until the sign is in the leg.
2283. It is best to alter hogs when the sign is below the
waist.
2284. Kill hogs in the light of the moon. Otherwise the
meat will shrink (or go to grease, or taste bad).
2285. Kill hogs when "the sign has gone out of the body,"
that is, when the sign is in the legs or the head.
Otherwise the meat will shrink, go to grease, or
taste bad.
2286. If you kill hogs in the dark of the moon, they will
make much lard.
2287. If you kill hogs in the light of the moon, the meat
will draw up and be flabby Mountains
This superstition and the next one, strongly pre-
valent in one section of the mountains, are contra-
dictory to the general belief.
2288. If a hog is killed in the old of the moon, it will have
a great deal of lard in it Mountains
2289. If you butcher on Saturday when the moon is full,
the meat will be tough Mountains
2290. The best time to fish is the period when the sign of
the zodiac is in the feet.
2291. To fish when the sign is in the head causes bad luck.
2292. Fish bite best in the dark of the moon, because on
moonlight nights they feed at night.
2293. If you shoot game when the sign is in the breast,
it will be easily killed Mountains
179
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2294. Horse-breeders put faith in the moon as to the sex
of a coming colt Blue Grass
2295. If you pick geese when the moon is shining, you
will get more feathers than at other times
Blue Grass
2296. If you wean a baby when the sign is in the heart,
the baby will die Mountains
2297. Bathe only in the dark of the moon Mountains
2298. To trim your nails in the light of the moon brings
good luck.
2299. If you trim your finger nails in the dark of the
moon, you are sure to have bad luck.
2300. If you have your hair cut in the dark of the moon,
you will become bald.
2301. If you have your hair cut in the light of the moon,
it will grow.
2302. If you cut your hair when the moon is new, you will
have twice as much hair during the first new moon
of the next year Mountains
2303. Always cut your hair in the change of the moon.
2304. Cut your hair when the sign is in the feet.
2305. If you singe your hair at the ends when there is a
new moon, it will grow.
2306. Any work begun in the full of the moon will be
disastrous.
2307. Move when the moon is new, before it goes into the
first quarter.
2308. If you clean beds in the dark of the moon in March,
there will be no vermin Blue Grass
2309. If you clean house in the dark of the moon in
March, there will be no moths Blue Grass
180
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2310. Dirt will not come out of clothes in the dark of the
moon Mountains
2311. That part of the fence laid in the dark of moon will
rot, or the bottom rail will go into the ground.
2312. Planks laid on the grass in the dark of the moon
will kill the grass.
2313. Planks laid on the grass in the light of the moon
will not injure the grass.
2314. If you put a post into the ground in the light of
the moon, the hole cannot be filled Mountains
2315. If you make preserves in the light of the moon, the
fruit will yield more than in the dark of the moon.
2316. Cut rail timbers when the moon is old.
2317. It brings bad luck to put on a board roof or lay a
worm fence in the new moon.
2318. If you cover a house with shingles in the light of
the moon, they will crimp. Therefore, shingle a
house in the dark of the moon.
2319. In making shirts, cut them when the sign of the
zodiac is in the legs or at least going down. Other-
wise they will crawl up the back and "out of the
breeches."
2320. Make soap in the light of the moon.
2321. Lye soap made in the dark of the moon will not
thicken.
2322. To make soap, stir it with a sassafras stick in the
dark of the moon Western Kentucky
2323. Do not make sauer-kraut or put pickles in brine
when the sign is in the "fish," or they will become
shiny and soft.
2324. The man in the moon is carrying brush as fuel for
hell-fire Mountains
181
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2325. The man in the moon is carrying brush as a punish-
ment for working on Sunday Mountains
2326. The man in the moon is carrying cane as a punish-
ment for murdering his brother Mountains
WEATHER SIGNS 1
2327. If animals have heavy fur, expect a hard winter.
2328. If you step on an ant, there will be rain.
2329. In spring and summer, during the season of thun-
derstorms, the barometer is unsteady preceding
rain, a condition that is not observed during colder
months Lexington
2330. Before spring and summer rains, the barometer usu-
ally falls to 29.90 or below, and before autumn and
winter to 30 Lexington
2331. After a drought the cry of a rain crow near a set-
tlement is a sure sign of rain.
2332. The singing of birds and hens during rain is an in-
dication of approaching fair weather.
2333. If birds gather together in multitudes on the
ground, there will shortly be snow Mountains
2334. If you see a bluebird today, you may expect a fair
day tomorrow Mountains
2335. If a bob-white says "Bob" only once, that is, does
not repeat the first note, there will be rain
Western Kentucky
i The weather signs in this list from Lexington and Louisville are taken
from "Weather Folk-Lore and Local Weather Signs," by Edward B. Gar-
riott, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, page 101 for Lex-
ington; page 103 for Louisville.
Many of the weather signs given below are based on logical causes. They
are included with the weather superstitions because they are all folk signs
and because no distinction is felt by the superstitions between the logical
signs and the superstitions.
182
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2336. If you take the last piece of bread on a plate by ac-
cident, you may look for rain Blue Grass
2337. To burn brush will cause rain.
2338. When the rain makes large bubbles on the ground,
there will be rain the next day.
2339. Yellow butterflies in the fall show that within ten
days there will be enough frost to turn the leaves
the color of the butterflies.
2340. If a calf plays, there will be falling weather.
2341. If the camphor bottle is not clear, you may expect
rain Blue Grass
2342. If the camphor bottle is clear, you may expect
pretty weather Blue Grass
2343. The rising of camphor in a bottle signifies rain. . -
Western Kentucky
2344. If candy will not get hard, there will be rain. The
condition is really caused by relative humidity
Blue Grass
2345. There will be rain soon when the carpet on the floor
becomes wet.
2346. If a cat sleeps before the fire with its nose turned up,
there will be rain soon Central Kentucky
2347. If a cat turns on its back with its nose up, there will
be rain Mountains
2348. If a cat sits with its back toward the fire, cold wea-
ther may be expected.
2349. If cats play with their tails, bad weather is immi-
nent.
2350. When a cat runs about the house and plays, you
may expect high winds.
2351. Expect rain when a cat washes its face around its
ear.
183
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2352. Caterpillars in the fall that are brown in the middle
and yellow at each end prophesy a severe middle
winter with mild weather at each end.
2353. You may expect rain when you see a chicken lying
on its side.
2354. When a chicken oils its feathers, one may expect
rain.
2355. When chickens fly upon something and pick their
feathers, the rain is over.
2356. If chickens seek shelter during a rain, the rain will
be only a shower.
2357. If chickens do not seek shelter during a rain, it will
rain all day, or at least for some hours.
2358. "If the cock goes crowing to bed,
It will rise with a watery head."
2359. You may expect a cold winter if the inside of a
chicken gizzard sticks tight when you take it out.
2360. When the inside of a chicken gizzard comes out
easily, you may expect a light winter.
2361. If cocks crow at about eight o'clock at night, there
will be rain the next day.
2362. If a rooster crows after dark and before midnight,
there will be rain before morning.
2363. The crowing of chickens at midnight indicates the
approach of bad weather.
2364. The coming of the robin is the surest sign of spring.
2365. If a chicken crows more than ten times, there will
be bad weather Mountains
2366. If when it is raining the cock crows before noon, the
afternoon will be clear Blue Grass
2367. The crowing of a cock before twelve o'clock noon
means a change of weather Blue Grass
184
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2368. If a chimney that is blown from your house during
a storm falls on the left of the house, you will have
bad luck Blue Grass
2369. If the wind comes down the chimney, the weather
will be very cold North-eastern Kentucky
2370. Cirrus, cirro-stratus, and alto-stratus clouds are al-
most invariably forerunners of rain in all seassons
Lexington
2371. Cirrus and cirro-stratus clouds indicate rain, but are
far from being a sure sign. They frequently ap-
pear for several hours, disappear, and re-appear
the next day Louisville
2372. No special cloud formation is known on which it
would be safe to predict rain more than twenty-
four hours in advance. Some cloud formations are
of decided assistance, however, if used in connec-
tion with a knowledge of the location of approach-
ing storm areas Louisville
2373. Pink clouds seen in the west in the evening pro-
phesy rain Mountains
2374. There will be fair weather if the clouds have a gold-
en appearance Mountains
2375. Buttermilk clouds are seen before rain.
2376. Three successive cloudy mornings mean that there
will be rain on the third.
2377. Cobwebs on the grass are a sign of rain.
2378. When corn twists up, there will be rain . Mountains
2379. Red corn is a sign of a hard winter
Central Kentucky
2380. If corn blades wither, there will be rain.
2381. When a large number of tumble-bugs are seen, ij
indicates a hard winter is coming.
185
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2382. If your corns itch, expect rain.
2383. Cows coming home in the middle of the day are a
sign of a bad storm.
2384. When the crawfishes do not throw up their usual
little mounds, expect a wet summer
Central Kentucky
2385. A crow's cry indicates fair weather that day
Northeastern Kentucky
2386. If a crow drinks out of a stream running by a house
before breakfast, it will rain before dark.
2387. The presence of a large flock of crows together is
followed by a change of weather Blue Grass
2388. The first three days of the year determine the gen-
eral character of the weather during the year.
2389. The weather of the first four days of the year indi-
cates that of the first four months of the year. . . .
Western Kentucky
2390. The first twelve days of January foretell the wea-
ther of the twelve months respectively.
2391. The weather from new Christmas to old Christ-
mas twelve days governs the weather of the fol-
lowing twelve months respectively .... Mountains
392. The weather of the first three days in December de-
termines the weather for December, January, and
February.
2393. The first three days of any season determine the
weather for that season.
2394. The first thunder in spring means that winter is
broken.
2395. The first thunder in the spring awakens the snakes
Western Kentucky
2396. If a spring bird calls late in the winter, while the
186
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
weather is still cold, there will be colder weather or
more snow Central Kentucky
2397. A cold winter is followed by a hot summer.
2398. Frosts in summer indicate that the crops have been
planted in some cold planet like the moon.
2399. Frost is likely to damage fruit or other crops from
March twentieth to April thirtieth, and from Sep-
tember fifteenth to October fifteenth . . . Louisville
2400. A rain on the first day of the month is a sign of
fifteen rains that month Blue Grass
2401. If it rains on the first day of any month, it will rain
seventeen days that month Blue Grass
2402. The date of the month of the first snow indicates the
number of snows that will fall during the winter.
2403. Count the number of days from the date of the first
snow until Christmas, to find the number of snows
that will fall that winter Southern Kentucky
2404. When there is thunder in the winter time, very cold
weather may be expected Central Kentucy
2405. If the wind blows from the south on the first day
of January, it will blow from the south every day
of that month Blue Grass
2406. Just as many foggy mornings as there are in Janu-
ary, there will be just so many frosty mornings in
May and on the same days of the month . Mountains
2407. The number of times it thunders in January indi-
cates the number of frosts there will be in April.
2408. The days that are cold in February will be warm in
March, and the warm days in February will be the
cold ones in March.
2409. If it thunders in February, there will be snow in
May.
187
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2410. If it thunders on a certain day in February, there
will be frost on that day in May.
2411. The number of times it thunders in February, so
often will it frost in May.
2412. If it thunders on the last day of February, there
will be frost on the last day of May.
2413. If it thunders in February, goose eggs will not
hatch Western Kentucky
2414. If the ground hog sees his shadow on February sec-
ond, there will be six more weeks of cold weather.
2415. It is between eleven and one o'clock on February
second that the ground hog's shadow is significant.
2416. If it freezes on February twenty-second, there will
be forty more freezes Blue Grass
2417. There will be heavy rains on the first Monday in
March Mountains
2418. If it snows the first day of March, there will be
snow for thirty days Central Kentucky
2419. If March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.
2420. If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.
2421. Fruit is never killed by frost in March
Western Kentucky
2422. Mists in March mean frost in May.
2423. The sun never shines on Good Friday.
2424. In whatever direction the wind blows on Good Fri-
day, it will blow for forty days.
2425. If there is enough rain on Easter Sunday to wet a
pocket handkerchief, there will be a good crop year.
2426. If it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain on seven
Sundays in succession.
2427. If the wind blows a certain way on Easter Sunday,
it will blow that way for six weeks.
188
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2428. When there is an early Easter, there is an early
spring.
2429. When there is a late Easter, there is a late spring.
2430. If it rains on the first day of April, there will be rain
for fifteen successive days Western Kentucky
2431. If you remove your flannels on the first day of May,
you will not take cold.
2432. Cool weather in May is called blackberry winter.
2433. If the weather is cool when the dogwood blooms,
the term dogwood winter is used for the cool period.
2434. If it rains June first, there will be fifty-seven rains
in June, July, and August Central Kentucky
2435. If it rains the first three days of June, there will
be no wild grapes Blue Grass
2436. There will be no blackberries if it rains on June
second.
2437. If it rains on the sixth of June, there will be no
mast Mountains
2438. A dry June means a good corn crop.
2439. If it rains on the first of the dog days, it will rain
thirty days.
2440. If it rains on July first, it will rain seventeen days
in the month.
2441. If it rains on July first, there will be no grapes
that year Mountains
2442. If it rains between the first and the fourth of July,
it will rain for forty days Mountains
2443. If it rains on the fourth of July, there will be no
grapes that year Mountains
2444. It never rains at night in July . . . Central Kentucky
2445. If it rains on St. Swithin's day, July fifteenth, it
will rain for forty days.
189
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2446. There will be as many snows in the following winter
as there are rains in August.
2447. As many foggy mornings as there are in August,
so many snows will there be in the winter.
2448. There will be as many snows in the winter as there
are foggy mornings in October.
2449. If it thunders in December, there will be cold
weather.
2450. A green (warm) Christmas makes a fat graveyard.
2451. A white (snowy) Christmas means a lean grave-
yard.
2452. If it sleets between the Christmases (old and new),
there will be a good mast year Mountains
2453. The number of fogs in summer indicates the num-
ber of snows in winter.
2454. If you stick an axe into a tree during "dogwood
winter" (see 2433), the tree will die.
2455. If it rains on Sunday, there will be only one fair
day in the week.
2456. If the sun sets behind a cloud on Wednesday eve-
ning, there will be rain before Sunday.
2457. If the sun shines on Monday, it will shine every day
in the week.
2458. If the leaves on the trees turn up on Monday, it
will rain before Wednesday.
2459. If the leaves on the trees turn up on Wednesday, it
will rain before Sunday.
2460. If it rains on Monday, it will rain all the week.
2461. A rain on Monday means rain two more days of
that week.
2462. If the weather is cloudy on Monday, there will be
cloudy weather on three days of the week.
]90
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2463. If the sun goes down behind a bank of clouds on
Wednesday, there will be rain before the week is
gone.
2464. A cloudy sunset on Thursday means no rain before
Sunday.
2465. Friday is either the fairest or the foulest day of
the week.
2466. The sun always shines brightly sometime on Friday
and Saturday.
2467. A rain on Friday means rain on Sunday.
2468. If the weather is clear on Friday, it will rain on
Sunday.
2469. If the sunset is clear on Friday, there will be rain
before Monday.
2470. The weather at Friday noon determines the weather
for the following Sunday.
2471. If the sun sets behind a cloud Friday night, it will
rain before Tuesday.
2472. When the moon sets clear on Friday, there will be
rain before Tuesday.
2473. The sun shines every Saturday but three during the
year.
2474. If the clouds open before seven and close again,
there will be rain before eleven. "Open and shet is
a sign of wet."
2475. "Rain before seven, stop before eleven."
2476. It always clears off at milking time.
2477. It never rains so hard at three o'clock in the after-
noon as it does at other times in the day.
2478. When the wind is high, it will blow hardest about
five o'clock night or morning.
191
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2479. "Night red, next morning gray,
Sure sign of a pretty day."
2480. "Red in the morning, sailors take warning.
Red at night, sailors delight."
2481. "Red sunrise at morning, sailors take warning.
Red sunset at evening, storms are leaving."
2482. "If at morn the sky be red, it bids the traveler stay
in bed;
If at night the sky be gray, it bids the traveler on
his way."
2483. "Evening red, morning gray, speed the traveler on
his way ;
Evening gray and morning red, brings down rain
upon his head."
2484. "Evening red and morning gray, sets a traveler on
his way.
Evening gray and morning red, put on your hat
and wet your head."
2485. If the sun sets clear, there will be fair weather for
the next three days; if cloudy, it will rain within
three days.
2486. If the sun throws a reflection on the window when
it is going down, the next day will be fair.
2487. If the weather clears off during the hours of dark-
ness there will be rain again within thirty-six hours.
2488. Butterflies in the fall are a sign of cold weather im-
mediately.
2489. If it thunders at midnight, the frogs will soon look
through glass windows (that is, there will be ice-
cold weather).
2490. "Blessed are the dead the rain falls on."
2491. If anyone dies, it will rain Mountains
192
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2492. If there is dew on the grass at night, there will be
good weather.
2493. If there is no dew at night, there will be bad weather.
2494. "If the dew is on the grass,
Rain will never come to pass."
2495. If there is not much dew on the ground in the morn-
ing, one may expect rain.
2496. When a dog chews grass, there will be rain.
2497. If a dog howls toward the moon, you may expect
snow.
2498. When a turtle-dove calls in the spring, winter is
broken.
2499. The cry of a turtle-dove foretells warm weather.
2500. When turtle-doves coo, there will be rain.
2501. To dream of the dead is a sign of rain or snow. . .
Western Kentucky
2502. If you dream of eating something, there will be bad
weather.
2503. If ducks fly high, there will be clear weather.
2504. If ducks fly low, there will be falling weather.
2505. If your feet hurt, it will rain.
2506. Itching of frostbitten feet indicates the nearness of
snow or rain.
2507. If firelight is seen reflected on the woodwork in
the room, cold weather will follow.
2508. When fire spits, there will be snow.
2509. The crackling of the fire with a fluffy sound as if
snow were falling into it indicates the coming of
snow.
2510. If a fire sighs, there will be very cold weather.
2511. When fish jump above the surface of the water,
you may expect rain Blue Grass
193
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2512. When flies sting you, expect rain.
2513. If a flower or a fruit tree which should bloom or
bear but once a year, blooms or bears twice in a
season, you may look for a hard winter.
2514. If the fog lifts early, it will rain Mountains
2515. If the fog lifts late, the day will be clear.
2516. If the fog goes up, there will be falling weather.
2517. If the fog comes down, there will be pretty weather-
2518. A dense fog line near water, indicates the height to
which the water will rise by means of the rain
which will follow the fog Mountains
2519. In winter, if the fowls seek a more elevated place
to roost, there is colder weather coming.
2520. Frogs freeze up three times before spring comes to
stay Mountains
2521. If frogs croak in the daytime, it will rain.
2522. A white frost is a sign of rain.
2523. After three white (heavy) frosts, expect rain.
2524. If frost hangs on the timber late in the morning,
snow may be expected.
2525. The general conditions that precede heavy frosts
are: rising barometer, falling temperature, low hu-
midity, west to northwest winds diminishing in
force, and clear or clearing weather .... Lexington
2526. Fruits, vegetables, and other crops are likely to be
damaged by spring frosts Lexington
2527. Autumn crops in Kentucky are generally not in-
jured by frost Lexington
2528. The continual slamming of a gate means that cold
weather is approaching . . . North-eastern Kentucky
2529. When the gnats swarm, rain and warmer weather
will follow . Central Kentucky
194
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2530. If the breastbone of a goose is white, expect clear,
warm weather.
2531. If the breastbone of a goose is dark, you may ex-
pect cold weather.
2532. If the breastbone of the goose is mottled, expect
varied weather.
2533. The weather goose must be hatched in June and
killed on December first.
2534. You may expect rain when a number of geese flap
their wings in the water Mountains
2535. If wild geese fly low when they go south, the winter
will be mild.
2536. If wild geese fly high when they go south, the winter
will be severe.
2537. A heavy wild-grape crop is followed by a hard
winter.
2538. If a grasshopper is seen dancing, there will be rain
within three days Southern Kentucky
2539. When guineas cry in the afternoon, there will be
rain later.
2540. When your hair curls, you may expect rain.
2541. If a hog looks toward the north, cold weather may
be expected.
2542. There will be cold weather when hogs begin to
build their beds.
2543. If a hog's liver points towards its head with the
little end, the first part of the winter will be warm
and the second part cold Blue Grass
2544. If a hog's liver points towards its head with the
large end, the first part of the winter will be cold
and the second part warm Blue Grass
2545. When hogs are killed in the winter, if the large end
195
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
of the hog's spleen is behind, most of the winter
is over Blue Grass
2546. When hogs are killed in the winter, if the large
end of the hog's spleen is in front, the hardest part
of the winter is yet to come Blue Grass
2547. The squealing of pigs foretells cold weather.
2548. The loud sound of horses' hooves shows that rain is
near.
2549. "Horses' tails and fishes' scales
Make sailors spread their sails."
2550. If a hornet builds his nest low, there will be a cold
winter Western Kentucky
2551. If the hornet's nest is high, the winter will be mild
Western Kentucky
2552. Rapidly increasing moisture after a period of low
humidity is a strong indication of approaching rain,
but by no means a sure one Louisville
2553. Except as a sign of more rain during an intermis-
sion in a rainstorm, high humidity is not usually a
forerunner of rain, unless the rain is about to begin
Lexington
2554. There is generally a decrease of relative humidity
before rain Lexington
2555. As a rule, humidity can not be depended upon as an
indicator of rain Lexington
2556. If you see an insect carrying material for its bed,
there will be cold weather Western Kentucky
2557. Ninety days, or three months, after the first katydid
is heard, there will be frost.
2558. If a lamp flickers continually, there will be rain . . .
Blue Grass
196
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2559. Lightning in the north means rain within twenty-
four hours Central Kentucky
2560. Lightning in the north is a sign of dry weather.
2561. If you see lightning in the northwest, it will rain
within forty-eight hours.
2562. If there is lightning in the east, one may look for
dry weather.
2563. Lightning in the south means dry weather.
2564. When you see a flash of lightning, count as fast as
you can until it thunders. The number will show
how many miles away the lightning has struck.
2565. If locusts are noisy, dry weather will follow.
2566. If locust blooms are heavy, expect a cool summer.
2567. If everything is eaten at a meal, the weather will be
clear the next day Mountains
2568. There will be rain if mice cry loudly at night.
2569. When the thick part of milk rises to the top, there
will be rain.
2570. If the rain gets thick and heavy, almost like mist.
the weather will turn cold.
2571. The presence of a great quantity of mistletoe in
the fall indicates that a severe winter will follow.
2572. An abundance of wild fruits in the fall is a sign of
a cold winter.
2573. When the new moon stands on end, it is generally
thought that the weather during the following
month will be dry.
2574. When the new moon lies on its back, that is, when
the horns extend upward, it is generally thought
that the following month will be dry, for the moon
will hold water. Some believe, however, that such
a moon betokens wet weather.
197
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2575. When a new moon lies sufficiently on its side to al-
low an Indian's powder horn to be hung on the
point, the moon will be a dry one.
2576. A ring around the moon with a star in it brings
clear weather.
2577. "Circle around the moon, rain soon;
Circle around the sun, rain none."
2578. When the moon has a ring around it, there will be
as many rainy days that week as there are stars in
the ring.
2579. A ring around the moon is a sign of rain or bad
weather, which will begin in as many days as there
are stars enclosed in the circle.
2580. The number of rings around the moon shows how
many days there will be before the rain.
2581. A circle around the moon with two stars in it is a
sign that it will rain in two days.
2582. If there are seven stars in a circle around the moon,
there will be rain for seven hours.
2583. The presence of two rings around the full moon
brings snow within twenty-four hours.
2584. If the moon changes in the morning, there will be
rain North-eastern Kentucky
2585. If the moon changes in the afternoon or evening,
there will not be rain .... North-eastern Kentucky
2586. A ring around the moon is a sign of cold weather.
2587. No frost will fall when a full moon is shining.
2588. Any month when the moon is north of due west is
a cold month.
2589. Any month when the moon is south of due west is
. a hot month.
2590. If there is a ring around the moon, rain may be ex-
198
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
pected. The nearer it is, the sooner will the rain
come.
2591. When the moon hangs low in the south, there will
be mild weather.
2592. The number of days old the moon is when it snows
for the first time is the number of times it will
snow that year.
2593. The bad weather of January 1915 was explained by
the presence of two full moons that month.
2594. The growing of moss on the south side of trees
means that a cold winter may be expected.
2595. If a mule looks toward the north, expect cold
weather.
2596. If you drive a nail into the ground, there will be
rain the next day Western Kentucky
2597. If you see a negro, it will rain.
2598. If the nut crop fails, the winter will be mild
Mountains
2599. If the nut crop is heavy, the winter will be severe . .
Mountains
2600. An owl's hooting indicates the coming of heavy rain
Mountains
2601. The hooting of owls indicates a change of weather. .
Mountains
2602. When an owl screams on the top of a mountain, dry
weather may be expected Mountains
2603. When peacocks cry a great deal in winter, the cold
weather is over.
2604. There will be rain when the peacocks run crying
along the ground.
2605. The cry of a peacock is followed by rain.
199
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2606. It brings bad luck to play a piano when a storm is
going on.
2607. If you lick your plate at breakfast, there will be
rain before supper Southern Kentucky
2608. Preparation for rain scares it away.
2609. The crying of rabbits is followed by heavy and con-
tinuous rain Mountains
2610. "Rainbow at night, shepherds' delight.
Rainbow in the morning, shepherds' warning."
2611. "Rainbow in morn, sailors warned.
Rainbow at night, sailors' delight.
Rainbow at noon, more rain soon."
2612. If a rainbow bends over a house, there will be a
death in that house Western Kentucky
2613. A rainbow in the west is a sign of wet weather.
2614. A rainbow in the east is a sign of dry weather.
2615. If you see a rainbow, there will not be any more
rain that day.
2616. If a raincrow calls late in the evening, there will be
rain next day.
2617. The redbird's whistle is a sign of rain.
2618. When a redbird says, "Wet, wet," a heavy rain may
be expected.
2619. If a redbird that you are looking at flies to the right,
the weather will turn cold.
2620. When redbirds fly low, you may look for bad
weather.
2621. An attack of rheumatism means the coming of rain
soon.
2622. Every time your rheumatism hurts you, you may
look for rain.
2623. Sweating rocks are a sign of rain.
200
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2624. If you kick up the rug several times, you may look
for rain.
2625. If you drop salt on the ground, you may look for
rain Western Kentucky
2626. If the sun draws water in the evening, it is a sign of
approaching rain (cf. 2656).
2627. If it has not been raining for a day and is cloudy,
and if a patch of sky large enough to make a sailor
a pair of trousers is seen before ten o'clock, it will
not rain that day.
2628. "Mackerel sky, not twenty-four hours dry."
2629. "A mackerel sky never leaves the earth three days
dry."
2630. A mare's tail in the sky is a sign of rain.
2631. A blue spot of sky as large as a Dutchman's trous-
ers means that the weather will be clear.
2632. If smoke goes straight up, there will be clear
weather.
2633. If smoke stays close to the ground, there will be
high winds and bad weather.
2634. If the smoke from a train is white and cloudlike,
there will be fair weather.
2635. If smoke goes down stream, expect rain.
2636. If smoke goes down the valley, rain may be ex-
pected.
2637. When coal smoke and gas puff out into the room
with a singing noise, snow may be looked for.
2638. If a snake crosses your path, there will be rain.
2639. To kill a snake and turn it over will cause rain.
2640. If a black snake is killed and hung on a fence, rain
will come.
201
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2641. The hanging of a black snake up by the tail will
bring rain before night.
2642. When snipes cry, winter is over
North-eastern Kentucky
2643. If the snow melts from the trees, the snow will leave
the ground in a rain.
2644. If the snow is blown off the trees, there will be an-
other snow soon before the current snow melts.
2645. Snow left unmelted in the fence corner brings an-
other snow.
2646. When you see snowbirds flying along a rail fence,
you may expect the weather to be much colder with-
in the next twenty-four hours.
2647. If you kill a spider, there will be rain that day ....
Mountains
2648. If you kill a spider on a rainy day, it will rain the
next day Mountains
2649. You may expect bad weather when a squirrel gath-
ers nuts.
2650. When the squirrel hoards are large, there will be a
cold winter.
2651. If the stars are thick, there will be rain.
2652. If an old person stumbles, there will be rain the next
day Central Kentucky
2653. If the sun shines while it is raining, there will be
rain the next day.
2654. If it rains while the sun is shining, there will be rain
at the same time the next day.
2655. "Ring around the sun, rain none;
Ring around the moon, rain soon" Mountains
2656. If the sun draws water in the morning, there will
be rain in the evening.
202
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2657. If the sun shines while it is snowing, there will be
snow the next day.
2658. It always rains for five days in succession after an
eclipse of the sun.
2659. When the telephone wires sing, a change of weather
may be expected.
2660. To kill a toad will cause rain.
2661. If rain drops cling to the twigs of trees, there will
be more rain.
2662. If tree leaves wither, there will be rain.
2663. If you see the white on leaves when the wind is
blowing, there will be rain.
2664. When maple leaves turn up, there will be rain.
2665. If you hear whistling among the trees in a moun-
tain, you may expect rain before dawn . . Mountains
2666. When the trees have heavy foliage, there will be a
hard winter.
2667. If bark grows on the north side of a tree, there will
be a cold winter.
2668. If snow sticks to the sides of trees and houses, there
will be snow again in forty-eight hours.
2669. If sycamore trees are white and smooth in the
autumn, a mild winter may be expected.
2670. If a tree toad croaks, it will rain.
2671. Turkeys dance (that is, jump up and down) before
rain.
2672. The carrying of an umbrella scares the rain away.
2673. Foam on the water is a sign of rain
Southern Kentucky
2674. A sweating water pitcher is a sign of rain.
2675. A whirlwind going east is a sign of rain.
2676. If a whirlwind goes down stream, there will be rain
soon.
203
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2677. Whirlwinds of dust are a sign of dry weather.
2678. If it begins raining while the wind is blowing from
the east, there will be rain every day for seven days.
2679. Precipitation is generally preceded for eighteen to
twenty-four hours by southeast to northeast winds
and falling barometer Lexington
2680. In all seasons rain is preceded for twelve to thirty-
six hours by southeast to northeast winds and fall-
ing barometer, and the barometer generally falls
to 29.90 or below in spring, summer, and winter
and to 30 or below in autumn before the rain be-
gins Louisville
2681. If the wind is in the south on the first day of the
year, it will not be out of the south forty-eight
hours within forty days Western Kentucky
2682. During periods of abnormally high temperature the
wind is from the south in spring and winter and
from the southwest in summer and autumn
Lexington
2683. Cold winds of all seasons are from the northwest . . .
Lexington
2684. During periods of very high temperature prevail-
ing winds are from southeast to east in spring,
southwest to northwest in summer, and south to
southeast in autumn and winter Louisville
2685. During very low temperature prevailing winds are
from the west, northwest, or north Louisville
2686. Severe winter storms are preceded by east to north-
east winds Lexington
2687. Before summer rains the wind is usually from south
to east Lexington
204
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2688. Stretch a yarn string over beans and other young
plants in the early spring, to protect them from
frost. The frost will collect on the yarn and the
plants will not be injured.
2689. Any noise during a thunderstorm is dangerous . . .
Central Kentucky
2690. Music during a thunderstorm is very dangerous . . .
Central Kentucky
2691. If you sit on a feather bed, the lightning will not
strike you.
2692. If the lightning strikes twice in the same place,
there is mineral in the ground there near the surface
Central Kentucky
2693. Many negroes will not burn the wood of a tree that
has been struck by lightning for fear that their
houses will burn or be struck by lightning
Western Kentucky
2694. When sunshine and rain come together, the Devil
is beating his wife. If you put a black-headed pin
into the clay and put your ear to the pin head, you
may hear them.
2695. There is a pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow.
2696. If an east wind blows for three days in the spring,
there will be no acorns, beech nuts, and the like
that year North-eastern Kentucky
2697. If it thunders heavily while a hen is sitting, it will
kill the chickens.
2698. If it thunders while ducks are sitting, the eggs will
not hatch.
2699. If the sun looks red like blood at the sunset of a
rainy day, a sudden death will soon take place.
205
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
DAYS, SEASONS, 1 ETC.
2700. Monday's child is fair of face.
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is loving and giving.
Thursday's child must work for a living.
Friday's child is full of woe.
Saturday's child has far to go.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day,
Is blythe and bonny and good and gay.
2701. Wednesday's child is merry and glad.
Thursday's child is sour and sad.
2702. Cutting Nails.
Monday for health;
Tuesday for wealth;
Wednesday for news ;
Thursday for a new pair of shoes;
Friday for sorrow;
Saturday, see your beau tomorrow.
But you had better never been born than have your
nails on Sunday shorn.
2703. To cut the finger-nails on Monday means health,
on Tuesday wealth, Wednesday a letter, on Thurs-
day something better, on Friday a wife, on Satur-
day long life, on Sunday means evil, for all of that
week you will be ruled by the Devil.
2704. To cut the nails on Monday will bring good luck.
2705. If you cut your finger nails on Monday morning
before breakfast, you will receive a present before
the week is over.
i For the significance of sneezes on certain days, see Sneezes, numbers 1035-
1038. For days and months of weddings, see Weddings, numbers 616-627.
For the connection of days or seasons with crops, see Crops.
206
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2706. It brings bad luck to cut the nails on Thursday.
2707. If you cut your toe nails on Friday, you will never
have toothache Western Kentucky
2708. If you cut your nails on Sunday, you will have a
plague.
2709. It brings good luck to have the nails pared on Mon-
day, Tuesday, Wednesday. It brings bad luck to
have the nails pared on other days, especially Sun-
day.
2710. If you trim your nails on Sunday, someone will
catch you with your clothes down before the end
of the week Mountains
2711. If you burn brush on Sunday, you will be put in
the moon.
2712. If you burn brush on Sunday, when you die your
body will burn all the time.
2713. It brings good luck to move on Monday, Tuesday,
or Wednesday.
2714. You will have good luck if you are born on Sunday.
2715. A person born on Sunday can talk to animals at
midnight of old Christmas Mountains
2716. It brings good luck to wear a new dress on Sunday
Western Kentucky
2717. If it thunders on Sunday, goose eggs will not hatch
Mountains
2718. If you work on Sunday, you will be sick on Monday,
2719. It brings bad luck to fish on Sunday.
2720. If you turn a spinning wheel around on Sunday,
you will get a whipping Mountains
2721. One will have to pick each stitch out with his nose
that he sews on Sunday.
2722. If you sew on Sunday, on Judgment Day or in
207
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
hell you will have to take the stitches out with
your nose.
2723. It brings bad luck to use scissors or to sew on Sun-
day, unless you do not wear a thimble or unless
you carry your work to a friend's house . Mountains
2724. If you sew on Sunday, you will die on Monday.
2725. It brings bad luck to iron on Sunday.
2726. It is harmful to darn on Sunday, unless you cross
your feet Blue Grass
2727. It brings bad luck to comb your hair on Sunday. .
Mountains
2728. Sunday is the best day to move.
2729. It causes bad luck to move on Sunday. .Mountains
2730. It brings good luck to start on a journey on Sunday.
2731. If you start on your journey on Sunday, you will
be gone a long time.
2732. If you set tobacco on Sunday, the grub worms will
attack it.
2733. If you turn a cow dry on Sunday, her calf will be
born in the day time.
2734. It brings bad luck to count eggs on Sunday.
2735. It brings bad luck to turn a feather bed on Sunday.
2736. If you take up the hoe on Sunday, you will not be
able to turn it loose.
2737. To burn paper on Sunday brings bad luck.
2738. As goes Monday, so goes the week.
2739. If you have company on Monday, you will have
company every day in the week.
2740. If you go visiting on Monday, you will go every
day in the week.
2741. Your whole week will be unlucky if you eat in a
strange house on Monday.
208
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2742. If you are in a bad humor on Monday, you will be
in a bad humor all week.
2743. If you hurt your foot on Monday, it will not get
well until Sunday Mountains
2744. If you take out ashes on Monday, you will have bad
luck.
2745. It brings good luck to begin a job on Monday.
2746. A letter on Monday means that you will receive two
more letters that week.
2747. It brings good luck to receive a nickel early Mon-
day morning Louisville Negroes
2748. If you keep all you take in on Monday, the amount
will increase during the week.
2749. If a man comes to your house the first thing on
Monday morning, there will be good luck all that
week.
2750. If on Monday morning a woman comes to your
house before a man, you will have bad luck all that
week.
2751. If the first person that you meet Monday morning
is a negro woman, you will have bad luck.
2752. Avert the bad luck that will come to you from meet-
ing a negro woman on Monday morning by turn-
ing and going back Southern Kentucky
2753. Monday and Friday are unlucky days for all wo-
men who are born in April Mountains
2754. Monday, Friday, and the thirteenth day of the
month are unlucky days for a journey.
2755. Set the first hen on Monday for good luck
Blue Grass
2756. You will not have good luck that week if you start
to work on Tuesday Mountains
209
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2757. It is unlucky to meet a left-handed person on Tues-
day Mountains
2758. Wednesday is a lucky day for collecting money.
2759. Wednesday is the luckiest day of the week for a
wedding.
2760. Thursday is the best day for business transactions.
2761. Do not comb your hair on Thursday
Western Kentucky
2762. One never sees a blue jay on Friday because these
birds carry sand to the Devil on that day. Another
version says that every blue jay carries a piece of
wood to hell on Friday, to heat the lawyers.
2763. Eggs laid on Friday never decay Negroes
2764. On Friday, the thirteenth, wear odd shoes for good
luck Western Kentucky
2765. It brings good luck to begin anything on Friday.
2766. It brings bad luck to pay a debt on Friday
Mountains
2767. It is unlucky to fish on Friday.
2768. It causes bad luck to kiss your girl on Friday
Western Kentucky
2769. Do not wash your face on Friday
Western Kentucky
2770. It causes bad luck to sweep dirt out of the house on
Friday, for the house will burn later . . . Blue Grass
2771. Never carry ashes out of the house after four o'clock
in the afternoon on Friday. Wait until Monday
morning, or you will lose a dollar that week.
2772. It brings bad luck to move on Friday or Saturday.
2773. It brings bad luck to be born on Saturday. You
will have to work hard for a living Mountains
210
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2774. If you cut a garment on Saturday, you will never
live to wear it out. "Quick done or never done."
2775. It causes bad luck to begin building a house on Sat-
urday.
2776. You must not bake a cake on Saturday.
2777. The sun always shines on Saturday, if only for a
few minutes.
2778. If you cut your finger nails on Saturday, you will
get joy tomorrow.
2779. If you feel that it is Saturday when it is not, you
will soon hear of the death of a friend of yours.
Mountains
2780. What you do on the first day of the year indicates
the character of your actions throughout the year.
2781. If a man enters your house before a woman on New
Year's Day, you will have a good year.
2782. If a woman enters the house before a man does on
New Year's Day, there will be bad luck.
2783. If a negro is your first visitor on New Year's Day,
he brings bad luck.
2784. As the first caller on New Year's Day, a dark man
brings the best luck.
2785. As the first caller on New Year's Day, a fair-haired
man brings the next best luck.
2786. As the first caller on New Year's Day, a dark-
haired woman brings the third best luck.
2787. As the first caller on New Year's Day, a red-haired
person brings bad luck.
2788. If a woman comes on the first day of the year, some
one will come every day in the year.
2789. If a woman visits you on New Year's Day, you can-
not raise chickens successfully that year . Mountains
211
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2790. To break something on the first day of the year
causes bad luck for the remainder of the year.
2791. If you dip your head into the ocean on January
first, you will not be ill during the year.
2792. If you wash anything on New Year's Day, you will
wash a member of the family away. . . .Blue Grass
2793. If you eat cabbage on New Year's Day, you will
have money all the year Western Kentucky
2794. If you cook white beans the first day of the year,
you will have money all the year
Western Kentucky
2795. Poultry raisers are interested in the first person who
comes into their houses on New Year's Day. The
sex of the caller signifies whether the house will
raise pullets or roosters that year, and the size of
the chickens will compare with the size of the visi-
tors Blue Grass
2796. You will have good luck if while walking up grade
you hear the first turtle-dove of the new year.
2797. You will have bad luck if while walking down grade
you hear the first turtle dove of the new year.
2798. The cutting of the hair in March causes a year of
headache.
2799. If you cut your hair in March, you will be sick be-
fore the year is out.
2800. If you cut your hair in March, you will lose a horse.
2801. If you have your hair cut in March, you will never
live to see another March.
2802. To move in March brings bad luck Mountains
2803. If a person lives through March, he will live the rest
of the year.
2804. If it rains on Good Friday, rains will be without
212
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
value all summer, that is, they will be too hard,
will come at the wrong time or for some other rea-
son will be valueless Southern Kentucky
2805. Rain on the Friday before Easter Sunday is a good-
luck sign.
2806. An early Easter means an early Spring
North-eastern Kentucky
2807. Unless you wear something new on Easter Sunday,
you will be unlucky throughout the year.
2808. If you have a man for a guest on the morning of
May first, all the chickens that year will be roosters
Blue Grass
2809. If you have a woman for a guest on the morning
of May first, all your chickens that year will be
hens.
2810. "A maid who on the first of May,
Goes to the fields at break of day,
And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree,
Will ever after handsome be."
2811. If you wash your hair in the first rain of May, it
will grow Mountains
2812. It causes bad luck to look into a well on the first
day of May, for if you see your reflection, there
will be a death in your family before the next May.
2813. Do not pluck a four-leaved clover in May
North-eastern Kentucky
2814. If you go in swimming on the first morning of May
before the sun is up, you will not have any con-
tagious disease during that year Mountains
2815. If a colt is born in May, he will lie down in the
water with you Louisville Negroes
213
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2816. It is dangerous to take off your winter clothing un-
til the tenth of May.
2817. To become beautiful, wash your face in dew before
sunrise on Mayday. 1
2818. If you set hens in June with eggs laid in June, the
chickens will die.
2819. If you go in swimming on the first of June, you will
not be sick the whole summer Mountains
2820. If a turtle-dove sits on a tree the first day of June
and calls, looking at you, you have enemies.
2821. The time to cut shrubbery so that it will not come
up again, is Ember Day (the day in the Episcopal
Church when special prayers are made for those
going into holy orders ) .
2822. Trees are easily killed on Ember Day by removing
the bark.
2823. If you hack the bark of a tree on Ember Day, it
will die Mountains
2824. Dog days begin with the cry or song of the katydid
Mountains
2825. If it rains on the first day of dog days, it will rain
for forty days Mountains
2826. There will be no chestnuts if it rains on the fourth
of July.
2827. If it rains on the fourth of July, there will be no
grapes Blue Grass
2828. Martens go south on the fifteenth of August
Western Kentucky
2829. If you cut your foot while swimming in the water
i For other superstitions associated with May first, see Divinations and
Weddingt.
214
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
during the first ten days of August, you will have
blood poisoning Blue Grass
2830. You will have good luck if you are the first to say
"Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year."
2831. A green Christmas makes a full graveyard.
2832. If the sun shines on Christmas, and if it snows on
Easter, there will be a fat graveyard.
2833. Never take up ashes from the fireplace during the
Christmas season Blue Grass
2834. It brings bad luck to kill the Christmas fly
Central Kentucky
2835. A white New Christmas and a white Old Christmas
are the signs of a good fruit year. ( Old Christmas
is twelve days after New or regular Christmas) . . .
Mountains
2836. At Christmas Eve, trees bleed (because of the
Cross).
2837. At Christmas Eve, spirits walk.
2838. At midnight on Christmas Eve all cows kneel (be-
cause Christ was born in a manger) .
2839. On Old Christmas Eve, all animals talk to spirits
and get on their knees and pray Mountains
2840. At midnight of Old Christmas, the elders bloom . . .
Mountains
2841. It brings bad luck to leave up the Christmas greens
after New Year's Day Central Kentucky
2842. If you stay up until midnight on December thirty-
first, you will see an old man go out your door and
a little child come in Mountains
2843. If you talk to animals at midnight on New Year's
Eve, they will understand you and you them.
215
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2844. Oysters are not good except in those months which
contain the letter r.
2845. If you turn water into a cistern during any month
that has not an r in the spelling, the water will sour
and not be fit to drink.
2846. It is unlucky to marry a person born in the same
month with you. You will not be happy together
because you are ruled by the same stellar influence.
2847. The girl born in January will be a prudent house-
wife, goodnatured, and inclined to be melancholy.
In February, humane, affectionate as a wife, tender
as a mother.
In March, a chatterbox, fickle, stormy, quarrel-
some.
In April, pretty, dainty, inconsistent, not studious.
In May, handsome, contented, happy.
In June, gay, impetuous, will marry early.
In July, fair, surly, jealous.
In August, amiable, practical, will marry rich.
In September, discreet, generally beloved.
In October, pretty, coquettish, moody.
In November, liberal, kind, amiable, thoughtful of
others.
In December, fond of novelty, extravagant.
2848. If a girl is born in October, her marriage will be
unhappy Negroes
2849. A girl who is born in November will have a mild
disposition.
2850. "A swarm of bees in May,
Is worth a ton of hay.
A swarm in June
Is worth a silver spoon.
216
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
But a swarm in July
Is not worth a fly."
2851. Birth Flowers:
January snowdrop August poppy
February primrose September morning
March violet glory
April daisy October golden rod
May hawthorn November chrysan-
June honeysuckle themum
July water lily December holly
2852. Birth Stones:
January garnet July ruby
February amethyst August sardonyx
March bloodstone September sapphire
April diamond October amber, opal
May emerald November topaz
June moonstone December turquoise
2853. Wear your birthstone for luck.
2854. If you let your birthday pass without thinking of it,
you will die before the next birthday.
2855. It brings you bad luck to be put under the bed on
your birthday.
2856. It brings good luck to receive white flowers on your
birthday.
2857. It brings good luck to be born on the eighth of the
month Mountains
2858. The eighth of the month is a lucky day on which
to transact business.
2859. You will be able to get anything that you ask for
on the fourteenth of any month.
2860. It is unlucky to be born on either the sixteenth or
the seventeenth day of the month Mountains
217
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2861. At the first of the month say "Rabbits," and you
will have good luck through the month
Northern Kentucky
2862. When you see in the morning the ground torn up
by ants, you will know that summer has begun. . .
Mountains
2863. Snow out of season brings bad luck.
2864. When a general pause comes in the conversation,
the time is twenty minutes before or after the hour,
2865. If you blow dandelion balls three times, the number
of white seeds left tells the time of day.
CROPS, VEGETABLES, FRUITS, TREES
2866. Crops planted during the first three days of July
will be barren.
2867. Do not plant anything on the first three days of
May, which are barren days.
2868. Never thank the giver for seeds if you want them
to grow.
2869. Slips from plants should be stolen. Only stolen
ones grow.
2870. In sowing grain, if you miss a "land," you will have
a death in the family.
2871. Plants must be kept in the bed room at night and in
the living room in the daytime.
2872. If a row is missed in planting, there will be a death
in the family before the year is out.
2873. In planting, bad luck results if you leave a row un-
finished.
2874. It brings bad luck not to plant seed after the soil
has been prepared for the planting.
218
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2875. Plant in the morning the seed that matures above
the ground Western Kentucky
2876. Plant in the afternoon the seed that matures under-
ground Western Kentucky
2877. If while you are working with someone in a garden
your hoes strike together, you will hoe together at
the same time next year.
2878. If two men at work on two rows strike hoes, one
will die within a year.
2879. If you plant beans in the morning, they will come
two weeks sooner than if you plant them in the
afternoon Western Kentucky
2880. If beans are planted in the afternoon, they will drop
the bloom.
2881. If while you are picking beans a leaf sticks on your
clothes, you will receive news Mountains
2882. It brings good luck to plant beans on the one hun-
dredth day of the year Mountains
2883. Plant beans on Good Friday.
2884. When apple trees bloom, plant beans.
2885. Put a yarn string over beans, to prevent frost from
having effect on them.
2886. If butterbeans grow downward and send roots up-
ward, the planter will die.
2887. You will have good luck if you carry a horse-chest-
nut.
2888. It is poisonous to eat horse-chestnuts (also called
buck-eyes).
2889. If one eats a buck-eye, his head will turn around.
2890. You must eat carrots, in order to become beautiful
Mountains
2891. You will have bad luck if you eat celery.
219
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2892. If you find a one-leaved clover, you will get a letter
from your sweetheart Mountains
2893. If you find a two-leaved clover, you will receive a
kiss from your sweetheart.
2894. A four-leaved clover brings the finder good luck.
2895. If you find a four-leaved clover, there is always an-
other in its place Western Kentucky
2896. If you swallow a four-leaved clover whole, you will
get whom you wish to marry.
2897. A five-leaved clover must be passed on to other peo-
ple. Whoever receives it will have good luck if
he does not keep it.
2898. If you find a five-leaved clover, give it away ; it will
bring good luck to the giver and the receiver.
2899. To find a seven-leaved clover brings bad luck
Western Kentucky
2900. If locust blooms are heavy, expect a large corn crop.
2901. Plant corn when the dogwood blooms.
2902. When white oak leaves are as big as a squirrel's ear,
plant corn.
2903. Plant corn after the woodpecker comes.
2904. Do not plant corn until asparagus tips are high
enough above ground to assure a good asparagus
crop.
2905. Corn should not be planted on May first, second,
or third, as these are barren days.
2906. It is rotten corn that produces the crust of bread . . .
Mountains
2907. If you burn the cobs of your seed corn, you will
cause your growing corn to blast Mountains
2908. If you burn the cobs from seed corn, the fodder will
fire the corn Mountains
220
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2909. "If it comes, it no comes;
If it no comes, it comes. "
The explanation is
If the crow comes, the corn will not grow.
If the crow does not come, the corn will grow. . . .
Louisville Negroes
2910. If you miss a row in planting corn, one will die in
the family before corn-gathering time.
2911. If when you plant a field of corn you miss a row,
there will be a death in the family before planting
time again.
2912. When white-oak leaves are as large as squirrel ears,
plant corn General over United States
2913. If you see grains of corn in the road, company will
come; if you cover them over, the caller will be a
stranger.
2914. In corn-husking, a blue-spotted red ear brings the
best luck. It is called in the Kentucky mountains
a "skew ball" Mountains
2915. If you see a red corn-silk first, you will hear of a
wedding before you hear of a death.
2916. If the first corn-silk of the season that you see is
white, you will go to a funeral soon.
2917. You will raise one hundred bushels of corn for each
white stalk which you find in your field . Mountains
2918. If the first silk that you see on a new ear of corn is
white, you will have bad health Mountains
2919. If you eat corn out of a tomato bowl, you will eat
corn cake out of a musk melon the following year.
2920. If a farmer has the brim of his hat turned up in
front, he has corn for sale.
2921. If a farmer's hat brim is turned up in the back and
221
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
down in front, the farmer wishes to buy corn
Western Kentucky
2922. You should plant cabbages on the ninth of May . . ,
Western Kentucky
2923. You must sow cotton seed on the ninth of May ....
Western Kentucky
2924. If you plant cotton among your cucumber plants,
insects will not attack your cucumbers
Western Kentucky
2925. Plant cucumbers on the fourth of July . . Blue Grass
2926. "Plant cucumber seed on the sixth of July ;
You will have cucumbers, wet or dry"
Western Kentucky
2927. Place cornbread crumbs about your cucumber
plants. They will attract ants, which will destroy
the cucumber insects Western Kentucky
2928. If you blow all the seeds off a dandelion ball in two
blows, you will get a new dress.
2929. Plant flax on Good Friday
North-eastern Kentucky
2930. If you swallow the first forget-me-not of the season,
you will get a new dress of the same color.
2931. It is bad luck to burn grape vines
Western Kentucky
2932. A blade of grass or a leaf a-quiver when all others
are still shows that a fairy is dancing on it.
2933. If you pass a wagonload of fresh hay without seiz-
ing a handful, you will have bad luck . . . Blue Grass
2934. If you see a hay wagon and say, "Load of hay, load
of hay, Take my wish and go away," you will have
good luck.
2935. To follow a haywagon out of sight with your gaze
222
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
will bring good luck. The luck will be better if
nothing comes between.
2936. "Where hollyhocks grow,
Beaus never go." Central Kentucky
2937. If you plant nasturtiums on St. Patrick's Day, they
will grow fast Blue Grass
2938. If a nettle points toward you, pick it up, for it
means good luck Mountains
2939. A nutmeg worn around the neck will bring good
luck.
2940. It causes good luck to carry an onion in your pocket
Mountains
2941. If you swallow the seed of an orange, your best
friend is thinking of you Mountains
2942. Plant parsley, and you plant sorrow.
2943. It brings bad luck to transplant parsley.
2944. If you accidentally drop peanut shells near your
house, you may know that policemen are coming
to the house Louisville Negroes
2945. It brings good luck to plant peas on the fourteenth
of February Mountains
2946. Peppers to prosper, must be planted by a red-head-
ed or a hot-tempered person.
2947. If you want peppers to grow, you must be angry
when you are planting them . . . Western Kentucky
2948. You will be poisoned if you eat "pokeberries."
2949. St. Patrick's Day is a good time on which to plant
potatoes.
2950. If you plant potatoes on the sixth of April, they
will not be attacked by insects.
2951. If you plant potatoes on dark nights, the moles will
eat them Mountains
223
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2952. An Irish potato is growing until the skin cannot be
flipped off with the fingers.
2953. If you see a puff ball (any fungus of the genus
Lycoperdon), you will have fever. You can avert
the fever by spitting nine times.
2954. The redbud is the tree on which Judas hanged him-
self.
2955. If you let a rose bloom in the house, a death will
follow Blue Grass
2956. To plant sage seed will bring death or severe illness
to one of the family.
2957. "Where sunflowers grow,
No beaus go."
2958. Plant sweetpeas and garden peas on the fourteenth
of February Blue Grass
2959. Plant sweetpeas on the twenty-second of February
Central Kentucky
2960. Plant sweetpeas on St. Patrick's Day . . Mountains
2961. Plant sweetpeas on Good Friday Blue Grass
2962. It is bad luck for the dropper of tobacco to get
more than one row ahead of the setter.
2963. It is bad luck to buy tobacco at or toward twilight ;
many stop buying by three o'clock in the afternoon.
2964. It was recently thought unlucky to buy tobacco at
exactly six cents a pound. Of late the high price
of tobacco has made this superstition obsolete.
2965. Some buyers of tobacco will not bid the even
amounts but will skip, for example, from fourteen
and three-fourth cents to fifteen and one-fourth
cents.
2966. Do not buy tobacco of pawpaw color (motley
color) ; it is called "fool-catcher."
224
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2967. It is bad luck to chew your tobacco twice (that is,
bad to tell a story twice).
2968. If one plants a tree by a grave, and the tree dies,
the planter of it will die.
2969. "Blossoms out of season,
Trouble out of reason."
2970. It is good luck to find two of any kind of fruit
grown together Blue Grass
2971. If you count the fruit on a tree before it is ripe, it
will fall off.
2972. If you have a tree that will not bear fruit, drive a
peg into it, to make it bear.
2973. To knock on wood will avert disaster notably dis-
aster that follows boasting.
2974. If you can break an apple in half with your hands,
you will always be your own boss.
2975. If you plant a cedar tree in your yard and it lives,
you will have good luck.
2976. If you bring in a cedar tree and set it near a build-
ing, you will die.
2977. Death will come to the man who transplants a cedar
tree, when the lower limbs grow to be the length of
his coffin.
2978. If you let a cedar tree grow in your yard large
enough to shade a grave, someone in your family
will die.
2979. If a cedar tree that you have planted dies in your
yard, one of your family will die. Some say that
the death will take place within a year.
2980. You will have bad luck if you burn cedar.
2981. It causes bad luck to break a dogwood switch.
225
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2982. You will have bad luck if you ride with a dogwood
switch.
2983. It is very unlucky to boom a log upon a log-wagon
with a dogwood pole Western Kentucky
2984. It is unlucky for a horseback rider to use a hard-
wood switch.
2985. Locust trees are more often struck by lightning than
any others Western Kentucky
2986. Mulberries are poisonous during the time of the
seventeen-year locust .... North-eastern Kentucky
2987. Leaves of the peach in a poultice will cure rheuma-
tism and neuralgia.
2988. If a peach tree blooms before its time, a death will
occur in the family soon.
2989. If you can remove the peeling from a pear without
breaking it, throw it over your left shoulder for
good luck Western Kentucky
2990. If you plant a pine tree, you will die when it is
large enough to shade your grave Mountains
2991. As many black pines as you plant in your yard, so
many will die in your family Mountains
2992. It causes bad luck to burn or haul sassafras wood.
2993. If you burn sassafras wood or leaves, a horse or a
mule of yours will die within a week .... Mountains
2994. To burn walnut wood brings bad luck . . Mountains
2995. Walnut trees often grow near a wooden fence. The
reason for this fact is that squirrels plant or drop
walnuts for future use and then forget them.
2996. To plant a weeping willow causes bad luck.
2997. If you plant a weeping willow tree, you will be
an old maid North-western Kentucky
226
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
2998. "Plant turnips on the twenty-fifth of July, and
you'll have turnips, wet or dry."
2999. You must sow turnip seeds on the twenty-fifth of
July, wet or dry, and on the twenty-seventh there
will be rain Blue Grass
3000. Turnips should not be planted on the seventh of
August.
3001. Turnips should be planted on the tenth of August
Mountains
3002. To have good luck with turnips, say as you throw
out the handful of seed: "One for the fly, one for
the Devil, and one for I."
3003. Plant watermelons one week after apple blossom
time Blue Grass
3004. Plant watermelons on the first of May before sun-
rise.
3005. If you plant your watermelons on the first morning
of May in your night clothes before the sun is up,
the insects will never attack them.
3006. If you plant watermelons on the first day of May
and carry the seed out in a washing-tub, the melons
will grow as large as the tub.
3007. Plant watermelons on the tenth of May.
3008. Watermelons planted on the nineteenth of May will
not grow.
3009. If you point at a watermelon with your first finger,
the melon will drop off. You must point with all
four fingers Central Kentucky
3010. It brings bad luck to have weeds grow about the
house Western Kentucky
3011. A great deal of snow in winter is a sign of a good
wheat crop.
227
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3012. Thunder storms precede a large wheat yield.
3013. You will have good luck if you take a handkerchief,
go backward, and throw it over your left shoulder
into a wheat field.
MONEY
3014. Carry a coin piece (for example, an old coin) for
good luck and to keep from losing money.
3015. If you carry money in two different pockets, you
will lose some of it Mountains
3016. Falling in love is a sure sign of becoming insolvent
Blue Grass
3017. It brings good luck to carry three cents
Northern Kentucky
3018. To find money is lucky Mountains
3019. If you find a piece of money, you must keep it, for
it will bring money Central Kentucky
3020. It brings good luck to wear a coin around your
neck Mountains
3021. To find a piece of silver will bring you good luck.
3022. To wear a dime in the heel of your shoe will prevent
your enemy from putting a "spell" upon you. . . .
Mountains
3023. To put money into the foundation of a building
brings luck.
3024. A speculator or a traveler will have luck if he bor-
rows money from a woman Mountains
3025. If you put the last nickel of your allowance into the
church offering, you will get a check within the
next few days.
3026. If your initials spell a word, you will become rich.
228
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3027. If you marry a poor man, you will become rich . . .
Mountains
3028. You will have good luck if when you drop a nickel
it sticks up in the floor Blue Grass
3029. If you hide a nickel in a hole and never come back.
you will be rich when you are grown
Louisville Negroes
3030. If you count your profits, you will lose them.
3031. To accept a two-dollar bill is unlucky. This super-
stition is found frequently among railroad men,
race-track frequenters, saloon-keepers, and waiters
in restaurants.
3032. Avert the disaster of accepting a two-dollar bill by
pinching off a little piece in the middle of a side or
an end.
3033. If you take a teaspoonful of turpentine, you will
be rich Mountains
WALKING FORTH, TRAVEL
3034. It brings bad luck to come to a place in the road
where someone has drawn his foot across the way.
3035. It causes bad luck to run across a bridge . Mountains
3036. If you are walking at night and see a will 'o the
wisp, you must instantly turn your coat wrong
side out and put it on, or you will die.
3037. When you are walking, if you pick up all the burnt
matches you see, you will find money . . Blue Grass
3038. It brings good luck to meet the same person on the
way both to and from any place
Blue Grass Negroes
3039. It brings good luck to meet the same people two
229
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
or three times in the same place on the same day
not by appointment.
3040. If a man or a woman follows you for five blocks
and then turns away, you will lose money
Mountains
3041. When you are going anywhere, it causes bad luck
to meet a woman first, but good luck to meet a
man or boy.
3042. To walk on the opposite side of a post from a com-
panion will bring on a quarrel.
3043. Avert the danger of a quarrel after you have walked
on the opposite side of a post from your companion
by spitting on the post.
3044. To avert the penalty of allowing a post to come be-
tween you and a companion, say "Bread and but-
ter."
3045. To avert the penalty of allowing a post to come be-
tween you and your companion, join hands.
3046. If two persons who are walking together permit a
third to pass between them, they will have a quar-
rel.
3047. It causes bad luck to pass between two women.
3048. It causes good luck to pass between two men.
3049. If you do not step on the lines of a concrete or stone
pavement, you will have something good for dinner,
3050. "If you sing on the street,
With displeasure you will meet" Mountains
3051. It causes bad luck to cross a street anywhere except
at a crossing.
3052. It causes bad luck to forget something and have to
go back for it.
230
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3053. If you start to go anywhere and then go back three
times, you will have trouble.
3054. Avert the bad luck incident to turning back by
counting ten.
3055. If you must go back after starting anywhere, avert
the bad luck penalty by sitting down.
3056. Avert the ill luck which comes from turning back
after starting by spitting over your left shoulder.
3057. You can avert bad luck incident to turning back
after once starting, by making a cross and spitting
into it.
3058. If you postpone a trip, you will never take it.
3059. To see a red-haired girl in the morning of the day
you are going on a journey brings bad luck
Blue Grass
3060. If the day is clear upon which you start on an ocean
voyage you will not be homesick Blue Grass
3061. If you start anywhere with wet clothes in your
trunk, you will have bad luck.
3062. If you watch a person out of sight, you will never
see him again.
3063. If you wave a person off or kiss him good-bye a
second time, he will never reach his journey 's end.
3064. To touch a street-car will bring good luck.
3065. It is an omen of good luck for a red-haired man to
run in front of a street car.
3066. It brings good luck for a negro to run and jump on
a street-car.
3067. It brings good luck to see an empty street-car.
3068. It causes bad luck for a fuse in a street-car to blow
out at the corner of a street.
3069. Bad fortune is invited by the street-car motorman
231
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
who scratches his car during his first trip on it; he
may expect a violent accident.
3070. It causes bad luck for a street-car to stop in front
of a church.
3071. For a wagon to turn from one side to the other be-
fore leaving a street-car track means bad luck, for
when this happens the motorman's pay will be
docked at the end of the week.
3072. If you meet a friend of yours on the train, you will
never lose his friendship Blue Grass
3073. To count the cars of a passenger train is a sign of
death.
3074. It brings bad luck to count freight cars.
3075. Certain rooms in hotels have the name of bad-luck
rooms.
3076. To close a hotel register causes bad luck.
3077. If you have a fight with someone in a strange town,
you will be defeated Western Kentucky
LETTERS
3078. To burn a letter will bring good luck . . . Mountains
3079. To tear a letter and bury the pieces under a log
will bring good luck Mountains
3080. If you fold a letter in nine folds and put it into a
glove, and then sleep on the glove, you will dream
how to answer the letter.
3081. To put a stamp on a letter accidentally bottom side
upwards means that you will not receive an answer.
3082. It is a sign of great disappointment to get a letter
with the stamp turned upside down.
3083. If a stamp is upside down on a letter that you re-
232
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
ceive, your best friend will leave you.
3084. It brings bad luck to put a one-cent stamp on a
letter by mistake.
3085. If a stamp is put on an envelope pointing to the
right, it means, "Go quick."
3086. If a stamp is put on an envelope pointing to the
left, it means, "I am angry."
3087. If a stamp is put on an envelope upside down, it is
a sign of love.
3088. If you wrap a hundred canceled postage stamps in
white paper, tie them with a red twine string, and
throw them out of the back window, you will find
money Mountains
3089. If you write the initials of the person from whom
you wish a letter on a piece of pie and eat the pie,
you will get the letter.
3090. If you find an unopened letter on the street, you
will soon have good news.
3091. If you receive a note with one corner folded by mis-
take, you will have a quarrel with the person who
sent it Blue Grass
3092. No news is a sign of good news.
3093. If you pick up a book and turn it upside down, a
letter with bad news in it will come to you.
MINES
3094. If a woman comes into a coal mine, there will be an
accident to the miners Mountains
3095. It causes bad luck for a hole to squib on the right
side of the room in a coal mine Mountains
3096. It causes good luck for a hole to squib on the left
side of the room in a coal mine Mountains
233
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3097. If a woman enter a mine, there will be a death
among the miners within six months . . . Mountains
3098. It causes bad luck to whistle in a coal mine
Mountains
3099. On the day of a death in a camp (even the death of
a baby) miners must not work Mountains
3100. To see a light in a mine is a sign that the death of
one or more miners is near Mountains
3101. If you go into a mine with a time set for coming
out, you will be killed before you are out
Mountains
3102. It will bring bad luck to go down into a mine after
dark Western Kentucky
3103. If a dog goes inside a coal mine, some one who
works in the mine will be killed Mountains
3104. If mice run out of a mine, the mine will fall in. ...
Mountains
3105. A white rat in a coal mine is a sign of a cave in. ...
Mountains
3106. To see rats in a mine is a sign that slate will fall. .
Mountains
3107. It means good luck for a miner to skin his back on
an oak board Mountains
3108. It means good luck for a miner to get coal dust in
his eyes.
3109. It means bad luck for a miner to get slate in his
eye Mountains
3110. It means bad luck for a miner to strike a sulphur
ball with his pick and not strike out fire . Mountains
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
COLOE
3111. When milk is being churned, the butter will come
more quickly if the churn is set on a blue cloth. .
Blue Grass
3112. If a blue-gummed negro bites you, the wound will
poison you.
3113. If a green snake bites you, you will laugh yourself
to death. *
3114. Peacock colors bring bad luck to the wearer.
3115. To find a red stone is a sign that some one is think-
ing of you.
3116. You will have good luck if you see a red-haired girl
coming up the street.
3117. You will have bad luck if you see a red-haired wo-
man as you leave your home in the morning
Mountains
3118. To meet a red-haired negro brings bad luck.
3119. Actors and musicians consider yellow an unlucky
color.
3120. If you see a violet cloud, you will live to old age. . .
Blue Grass
3121. It brings good luck to see a yellow box-car.
NUMBERS
3122. The third time is for luck. "Three's a charm."
3123. Three is an unlucky number Mountains
3124. In fire insurance, one large loss means that there
will be three losses.
3125. One suicide or one murder means that there will be
two more.
3126. It causes bad luck for a passenger who wishes to
235
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
stop a car to ring the bell three times.
3127. It brings bad luck for the last of three people to
use a lighted match in smoking.
3128. The third who uses a towel will have bad luck.
3129. The number seven is a good luck number.
3130. The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, or the
seventh son of a seventh son, will be extremely
lucky Mountains
3131. The seventh son of a seventh son can be a healer,
fortune-teller or the like.
3132. The seventh son will always be a preacher, a doctor
or a lawyer.
3133. If you stick a knife into the ground eight times, you
will have good luck Mountains
3134. Nine is a lucky number for travelers.
3135. Eleven is a good number in a crap game (perhaps
because it rhymes with seven).
3136. Thirteen is a bad-luck number.
3137. If one is born on the thirteenth day of the month,
thirteen is his lucky number.
3138. Those born on the thirteenth will die before they are
thirty.
3139. A clock that strikes thirteen prophesies death.
3140. If thirteen people are seated at a table, the first to
get up will die before that time next year.
3141. Of thirteen people who sit down to a meal, one will
die within a month.
3142. If thirteen people sit at a table, the youngest will
die soon.
3143. If you find the number thirteen turned towards you,
you will be an old maid.
3144. Put twenty-four canceled postage stamps into an
236
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
envelope, and throw them out of a window in the
morning. You will find something.
3145. It is a bad-luck sign to have an uneven number of
anything.
3146. If you count ninety-nine stars without bowing your
head, you will drop dead.
3147. If you try to count one hundred stars without look-
ing down, you will fall dead on the ninety-ninth.
3148. If you count one hundred stars without looking
down, your mother will die before the year is out.
3149. If you count one hundred stars, you will drop dead.
3150. Stamp every negro that you meet until you have
stamped one hundred; then you will receive a de-
sirable present.
3151. If you stamp one hundred negroes, you will find
something.
SPORTS
3152. If you cross bats in playing ball, your luck will
change.
3153. In laying baseball bats down, do not cross them.
3154. If the first batter in a baseball game strikes out, the
opposing team will win.
3155. If you break your bat, you may expect a batting
slump.
3156. It causes bad luck to change bats after you have
taken one in your hand.
3157. To change bats after the second strike is unwise.
3158. It causes bad luck for a baseball player to stand on
the plate with the large end of the bat down.
3159. If one drops a baseball bat between the home base
and the catcher, bad luck will follow.
237
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3160. When one is running toward first base, it brings
bad luck to step over a bat.
3161. If on the way to the plate you pass between the
home plate and the pitcher, you will be hit by the
ball later.
3162. For good luck, spit on the end of the bat before
batting.
3163. It is unlucky for the batter to spit on the home plate.
3164. If the pitcher strikes out the first batter, the pitcher
will lose.
3165. If a pitcher spits on a ball, the batter will miss it.
3166. If a pitcher finds a toad in the outfield just before
he begins the game, he will win.
3167. It brings bad luck for the pitcher to step out of
the box after he has thrown the first strike.
3168. It causes bad luck for a pitcher to sleep in the
room of a losing pitcher.
3169. A ball team should not have its picture taken be-
fore a game.
3170. Some especially bad luck will come to you if you are
put out on third base.
3171. To change a baseball locker will bring bad luck.
3172. It brings good luck to pass a hay wagon on the day
of a baseball game, if you will tip your hat to it.
3173. It is well for a ball-player to see a load of empty
beer barrels while he is on his way to the ball park
3174. If your hand itches while you are playing baseball,
you will catch the next foul ball.
3175. The placing of a black piece of cloth in the dugout
of the opposing team, will bring victory to your
team.
238
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3176. To use the locker of a great baseball player will
bring good luck.
3177. The seventh inning in baseball will be lucky for one
of the two opposing baseball teams.
3178. It is bad luck for the batter to try to watch the
catcher's signal.
3179. The home team should not permit the visiting team
to sit on the bench.
3180. If a towel that you hang up in a dressing room be-
fore a ball game remains and is untouched, you will
win.
3181. If a baseball player sees a cross-eyed woman in the
grandstand, he will not get a hit that day.
3182. The team that loses first blood in football, will lose
the game.
3183. To play a game in a new or a clean uniform is un-
lucky.
3184. A common saying among fishermen is:
"Wind from the south, hook in the mouth,
Wind from the east, bite the least;
Wind from the north, further off;
Wind from the west, bite the best."
3185. Fish bite best when dogwood is in bloom.
3186. Fish will not bite when it is thundering.
3187. When it thunders, the time is favorable to fish for
cat fish Mountain
3188. Spit on your fishing-bait for luck.
3189. In fishing, you would do well to spit on your bait
three times.
3190. Chew sweet enice and spit on your hook for luck
at fishing.
3191. It causes good luck when you are fishing to throw
239
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
out on dry land a leaf that has been caught in the
water.
3192. If you stick your hand with a fish's fin, you will
catch nothing more.
3193. To carry a fishing pole into the house will prevent
your catching anything.
3194. It is unlucky to change poles, while you are fishing.
3195. If you let the end of a pole touch the water, you
will catch no fish.
3196. In fishing, if you step over the fishing pole, you
will catch no fish.
3197. If you curse while you are fishing, the fish will not
bite Mountains
3198. It causes bad luck to change hooks while you are
fishing.
3199. If you let another person get fishing bait from your
bait can, you will have no luck Mountains
3200. If you catch a fish in the eye, you will not catch any
more that day Mountains
3201. If when you go fishing you turn the first fish caught
back into the water, you will have bad luck.
3202. It causes bad luck to cross lines in fishing.
3203. If some one steps over your fishing line, you will
have bad luck.
3204. It brings bad luck to take a dog with you on a fish-
ing trip, for you will catch no fish.
3205. If when you go fishing a rabbit crosses your path,
you will catch no fish. 1
3206. If in falling weather chickens do not seek shelter
but walk about, you may go hunting with assur-
1 For fishing in connection with the signs of the zodiac, see the chapter on
'The Moon and Signs of the Zodiac," numbers 2290-2292.
210
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
ance, as birds will also be out. . .Central Kentucky
3207. When you leave the house on a hunting or fishing
expedition, kick off your right shoe. This act will
bring good luck.
3208. To have good luck in hunting, you should shoot
your gun once before you leave your yard
Blue Grass
3209. A hunter will encounter bad luck if he turns back
after he has entered a wood.
3210. If two hunters cross different panels of fence, bad
luck will follow.
3211. When you are hunting, you may change your luck
by turning the back of your hat to the front.
3212. If you drop a gun, you will have an accident five
nights afterward Mountains
3213. If you shoot a gun against a tree when the bark is
frozen, the shot will come back and kill you.
3214. Do not let your hunting gun be out of your posses-
sion over night during the hunting season.
3215. If a horse refuses to drink before a race, he will win
Blue Grass
3216. To keep a goat in the stall of a race-horse will bring
good luck Blue Grass
3217. If a jockey turns his cap around backwards, he will
not win Blue Grass
3218. Odd days are lucky for bets on horse-races
Blue Grass
3219. It is disastrous to bet on horse-races on even days.
3220. If you will give a needy person money before you
go to the races, you will win your bets.
3221. To touch a hunch-back will bring good luck at
horse-races.
241
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3222. It brings bad luck to bet on a gray horse in a horse-
race.
3223. If anyone "crosses your luck," as in boys' outdoor
games, you will be unsuccessful.
3224. If a prize fighter sees a load of empty barrels on
the day of a fight, he will lose.
3225. To spit on one's hands before a fight is lucky.
3226. A girl skipping a rope says:
"Mother, mother, I am sick.
Send for the doctor, quick, quick.
Doctor, doctor, shall I die?
Yes, my child, but don't you cry.
How many carriages shall I have?
One two, three," et cetera until she misses the rope
North-eastern Kentucky
3227. If a swing stops before you get out, you will die.
3228. After someone says, "Let the old cat die," it will
cause bad luck to quicken the motion of the swing.
LUCK AT CARDS
3229. "Unlucky at cards, lucky at love."
3230. Walk around the table or a chair to change the luck,
3231. You will have good luck if you walk around the
table three times during a card game.
3232. To change your luck at cards, turn the back of the
chair to the table and sit astride.
3233. For luck at cards, spit into the bottom of your
chair upturned.
3234. Break bad luck at cards by sitting on a handkerchief.
3235. For luck at cards, reverse the direction of dealing.
3236. It brings good luck to deal from a deck from which
you have cut for deal.
242
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3237. The reverse of the procedure mentioned in 3236
causes bad luck.
3238. For luck at cards, turn back the hem of your skirt.
3239. For luck at cards, turn up the bottom of a trouser
leg.
3240. For luck at cards, remove a piece of jewelry.
3241. Change something in your pocket, to change your
luck at cards.
3242. It is well for a card-player to carry the wish-bone
of a chicken in his pocket.
3243. It is lucky for a card-player to carry the bone of a
dead person in his pocket.
3244. For luck at cards, "milk" the deck, that is, deal a
card alternately from the top and from the bottom
of the deck.
3245. To change luck at cards, change decks.
3246. Kiss a card good-bye for luck.
3247. It brings good luck to pick up your cards with the
left hand.
3248. Gamblers have favorite good-luck pairs.
3249. It brings good luck to be the last to take up and
look at your cards.
3250. It brings bad luck to have the last card dealt to you.
3251. It brings bad luck to pick up cards one at a time.
3252. If you start in with bad luck, stop, for it will grow
worse.
3253. It brings bad luck to play cards any place near
where a murder has been committed.
3254. It brings bad luck to play cards across the grain of
a table.
3255. In a game of cards if you drop a number of the
cards, you will lose so many games.
243
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3256. It brings bad luck to fumble the deal.
3257. Do not cut your opponent's deal when you are
winning, as your luck will likely change.
3258. When the ace and the two, three, and four spots
make a trick, the winner should kiss the dealer for
good luck.
3259. When the ace and the two, three, and four spots
make a trick, all should kiss the dealer for good
luck.
3260. If in picking up dice you drop one, you will lose,
for you have lost your leader.
3261. Never lend a betting opponent money. Never bet
against your own money.
ANIMALS, BIRDS, REPTILES, INSECTS
3262. Animals can see haunts or spirits.
3263. Animals can talk on New Year's Eve.
3264. It is a bad omen for an animal to die in one's hand.
3265. If you see a dead animal, spit over your little finger,
so that you may avoid bad luck.
3266. All men come back as animals.
3267. To run an animal before you kill it will make the
meat tender.
3268. The crossing of a black cat in front of you will bring
bad luck.
8269. When a black cat passes in front of you, spit, to
avert bad luck.
3270. It brings good luck for a black cat to cross your
path to the right Blue Grass
3271. It brings bad luck for a black cat to cross your
path to the left Blue Grass
244
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3272. Avert the bad luck incident to the crossing of a cat
or a rabbit before you by pulling out a thread and
throwing it from you on the left or the right side,
according to the animal's position Mountains
3273. When a black cat runs in front of you, take off your
cap and spit into it, to avert bad luck . . . Mountains
3274. If a cat crosses your path, you will have bad luck,
unless you turn around three times and spit on
your little finger.
3275. If a black cat crosses your path, turn around three
times to avert bad luck.
3276. It brings good luck to have two cats or two rabbits
cross your path at night Western Kentucky
3277. It is a bad-luck sign to have a black cat follow you
after night.
3278. A black cat seen on the morning of an accident is
a sign of warning.
3279. If a black cat takes up its abode at a house, the
unmarried daughters will have a good chance to
marry.
3280. If a black cat is kept in the family, the girls will
never marry Southern Kentucky
3281. If a yellow cat passing in front of your path turns
over, you may expect bad luck Mountains
3282. If you spit on the floor or the ground and a cat goes
near your saliva, you will die ... Central Kentucky
3283. It causes bad luck for a cat to sleep with you ....
Mountains
3284. A cat on the front porch brings bad luck to the
housekeeper.
3285. To kill a cat will bring seven years of bad luck.
3286. If you kill a cat, it will haunt you all your life.
245
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3287. If you kill a black cat, you will see the Devil before
you see another black cat.
3288. It brings bad luck for a man with a family to drown
cats Southern Kentucky
3289. A cat you kill in any way except by drowning will
not hurt you, but if you drown one, the cat's ghost
will come at night and suck your breath
Central Kentucky
3290. It causes good luck to kill a cat in a graveyard either
at midnight or on a moonlight night.
3291. It causes bad luck to cut off a black cat's tail.
3292. If you step on a black cat's tail, you will be an old
maid Western Kentucky
3293. You will have bad luck if you step on a cat's tail.
3294. It causes bad luck to drive off a cat.
3295. If a cat approaches you kindly, you have a good
disposition.
3296. If a cat raises its fur at you, you have a bad dispo-
sition.
3297. You will have good luck if a cat or a dog follows
you home.
3298. It causes bad luck to move a cat.
3299. It will bring good luck to take a cat to a new house.
3300. If a cat gets on a table, you will have bad luck.
3301. If a street-car runs over a cat, it will also run over
a person that day.
3302. If a cat turns over so that its head is away from
the fire, someone is coming.
3303. If the cat washes its face in the house, someone is
coming.
3304. If a cat washes its face in the door, someone is com-
ing.
246
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3305. The first person that a cat looks toward after wash-
ing its face will be the next to marry.
3306. To hear a cat whine at twelve o'clock is a sign of
death.
3307. It is a sign of a death in the family for a cat to mew
three times at midnight on two or three consecutive
nights.
3308. If a cat scratches you, you may look for a disap-
pointment.
3309. If a cat looks into a mirror, there will be a death.
3310. A cat can cause the death of a sleeping person or
a sick child by sucking the breath.
3311. A cat has seven lives.
3312. A cat has nine lives.
3313. A cat draws lightning.
3314. If you put cream on your face and let a cat lick it
off you will have a heavy beard Mountains
3315. If two cats fight for a long time, somebody will have
a fight nearby Central Kentucky
3316. A cat will feed on the flesh of a dead person.
3317. It brings good luck to have a white cat come to
your house.
3318. It causes good luck to meet or pass a drove of cattle.
3319. If many of your stock suffer from an epidemic,
someone in your family will have an accident or
will die Mountains
3320. Blood in the cow's milk is a sign of a death in the
family.
3321. To shoot a cow brings bad luck.
3322. If a cow falls down, she will die.
3323. If a cow falls down, she will die within a week ....
Southern Kentucky
247
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3324. If a cow lows in front of your door, you may expect
a death.
3325. If a cow lows over your gate, there will be a death.
3326. A cow's lowing between seven and eight o'clock in
the morning is the sign of a death in the family . . .
Northern Kentucky
3327. If a cow's low is heard after dark, there will be a
death in the family before the next Wednesday
night.
3328. If you move from one city to another and take a
cow with you, you will have bad luck.
3329. It is thought that a cow may lose its cud. It does
not. Indigestion may prevent the stomach from
supplying the cud.
3330. The common belief that cows sometimes have an
ailment called hollow horn is a superstition. That
is, it is thought that a certain disease will produce
hollow horn.
3331. The birth of twin calves is a sign of a death in the
family North-eastern Kentucky
3332. If you milk a cow on the ground, it will go dry.
3333. If a cow steps over a milk bucket, milk- weed will
grow at that place Mountains
3334. If you can see the reflection of a calf hoof in a
glass of milk, it is pure, that is, free from water,
3335. Butter will come easily all the year if the milk which
is milked in April is not mixed with that which is
milked in May Mountains
3336. When you churn, if the butter does not gather,
whip the churn.
3337. If you look into a churn of milk, you will be bald-
headed Central Kentucky
248
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3338. If a dog points his nose toward you and howls at
midnight, you will soon be killed.
3339. When a dog howls without any apparent reason,
bad luck may be expected.
3340. There will be a death in the family if a dog howls
at night (or some say, at midnight).
3341. The disaster of death presaged by the howl of a
dog at night (or according to some, at midnight)
may be averted by turning an old shoe upside down.
3342. If a watch dog barks three times when you are pull-
ing it in, you will die Blue Grass
3343. If a dog howls twice at night, a woman will die.
3344. If a dog howls three times at night, a man will die.
3345. A dog's howling in a doorway or beneath a win-
dow means death.
3346. If a dog howls with his head down, there will be a
death. If he howls with his head raised, there will
be a fire.
3347. If a dog howls, turn over a shoe; the howling will
stop and the danger will be averted.
3348. It causes bad luck, if on your way to a funeral, you
meet a dog with hydrophobia Mountains
3349. If a dog lies on his back and scratches, expect a
death.
3350. If a dog stretches himself out on the ground, he is
measuring a grave.
3351. If a dog crawls on his belly and moans, he is meas-
uring his master's grave.
3352. If a dog turns over to scratch his back with his head
down hill, there will be a death.
3353. If a dog lies down with his tail toward the house,
249
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
and then gets up and shakes, there is a woman
coming.
3354. If a dog lies down with his tail toward the house, a
man is coming.
3355. If a dog lies down with his head out of a door, some
one will leave the family soon (by marriage, death
or otherwise) Southern Kentucky
3356. When a dog rolls over, gets up, and shakes himself,
from the direction that he faces a visitor will come.
3357. Never let a dog see himself in the mirror, for he
will die Northern Kentucky
3358. You will have bad luck if a stray dog comes to you.
3359. To be followed by a strange dog brings good luck.
3360. If you do not take your clothes from the clothes
line and wash them again after a dog has run un-
der them, some one of your family will die
Central Kentucky
3361. If as you start anywhere a dog growls in your path,
you will do better to go back, as you will have bad
luck on your journey Western Kentucky
3362. If you come upon a dog that is attending to a call
of nature, you will have bad luck Mountains
3363. To prevent a dog from causing you bad luck in ac-
cordance with the last sign noted, join your two
little fingers until you have passed him.
3364. It brings bad luck to sell a dog.
3365. It brings bad luck to kill a young dog.
3366. If you kill a dog, its spirit will haunt you.
3367. To keep a dog at home, cut off the tip of his tail
and place it under the doorstep.
3368. If you pull three hairs from a dog's tail and put
250
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
them under the doorstep, he will not stray from
home.
3369. To keep a dog from running away, measure his tail
with a stick, cut off the hair that sticks out at the
end, and bury the stick and the hair under the
doorstep.
3370. Keep a bird dog from leaving by taking hairs from
his tail, splitting a stick, placing the hairs in the
cleft, and burying the stick beneath the doorstep.
3371. If you put a piece of meat into your shoe, wear it
for a time, and then give it to a dog, he will follow
you.
3372. Feed a dog gun-powder and raw meat, to make
him savage.
3373. A bob- tailed dog cannot walk a log without falling
Mountains
3374. A dog with a large posterior part will be a good
hunter Mountains
3375. If a dog's posterior part is black, he is a good rac-
coon dog Mountains
3376. If any one steps over a dog, the animal will not
grow any more.
3377. If a dog licks the blood of a dead man, he will go
mad Mountains
3378. A dog with dew-claws will not go mad.
3379. If a dog groans in his sleep, he is dreaming.
3380. If you cut a lock of dog's hair and put it under
your pillow, you will dream what the dog has
dreamed Southern Kentucky
3381. If you slip a hat under the head of a sleeping dog,
his dream will come to you the following night ....
Mountains
251
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3382. If you sleep on the same pillow which a dog has
slept on, you will dream the same dream the dog
has had North-eastern Kentucky
3383. When a dog smiles in his sleep, he is dreaming of
heaven.
3384. If you see a dog chase a cat up a weeping willow,
your sorrows are up a tree, that is, are over
Blue Grass
3385. A big dog barks but will not bite; a little dog will
bite but does not bark much. Hence the stanza of
"Sourwood Mountain"
Big dog bark an' little un bite you,
Hey-ho diddle-um-di-ay!'
Big girl court an' little un slight you,
Hey-ho diddle-um-di-ay ! Mountains
3386. Bad dogs are afraid of mean people Negroes
3387. Keep goats on a horse farm. If the goats do well,
the horses will do well Blue Grass
3388. Keep a goat among horses or cattle. Its presence
will avert disease Blue Grass
3389. If a goat that is kept in a stall with a horse is taken
out, something unfortunate will happen to the
horse Blue Grass
3390. If a ground hog comes to the house, there will be
a death.
3391. If a hog is born without a tail, it will require one
fewer barrel to become fat on.
3392. It brings bad luck to pass a drove of hogs.
3393. It causes bad luck to give a hog away or to receive
one as a gift Mountains
3394. If hogs are fed on beechnuts, the meat will be all
fat Western Kentucky
252
KENTUCKY SUPEKSTITIONS
3395. Hogs fed on apples make the sweetest meat
Western Kentucky
3396. When a hog that has been killed and hung on a
tree falls, someone who has taken part in the kill-
ing will die soon.
3397. It brings good luck to carry the wisdom tooth of a
hog.
3398. Hogs can see the wind.
3399. If when you kill a hog, you put water from his eye
into yours, you will be able to see the wind.
3400. If you drink a sow's milk, you will be able to see
the wind.
3401. It brings good luck to meet or pass a drove of
horses.
3402. If a horse snorts at night, a stranger is near.
3403. The death of a horse is ominous.
3404. If a horse balks at night, he sees a haunt.
3405. A horse can see ghosts. If you place your head be-
tween his ears, you may see them also . . Blue Grass
3406. It causes bad luck to remove a shoe from the hoof
of a dead horse.
3407. It causes bad luck to take the shoes off a dead horse
and put them on another horse. He will not live
long.
3408. A horse draws lightning.
3409. It brings good luck to change a horse's name after
he has changed hands in a trade . Western Kentucky
3410. If a horse in wallowing turns over, he is worth one
hundred dollars.
3411. The significance of white feet on horses is thus
given :
"One white foot, buy him,
253
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
Two white feet, try him,
Three white feet, deny him."
3412. Another version of the significance of white feet on
horses is this:
"One white foot, buy him,
Two white feet, try him,
Three white feet, look well about him,
(that is, be suspicious about him)
Four white feet, do without him."
3413. Some horses are moon-eyed, that is, affected by the
moon. They become almost blind in the full moon.
3414. A filly cannot win the Kentucky Derby. This tra-
dition was broken in 1915.
3415. If a double-team horse or mule wagon passes you,
you will have bad luck.
8416. If you count one hundred white horses, you will
find some money. If you stamp one hundred white
horses, you will find a bag of gold.
3417. You will have good luck if you stamp one hundred
white horses. (To "stamp" is to indicate each unit
in counting by wetting one hand with saliva and
striking it with the other hand.)
3418. If you count one hundred white horses, someone in
the family will die.
3419. If one counts one hundred and fifty horses, he will
find something of value.
3420. If you see a white horse, you will get money the
same week.
3421. To see a white or gray horse indicates the coming
of bad luck.
3422. Spit between two fingers, then you will not have
bad luck when you see a white horse.
254
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3423. If you see a white horse, look for a red-headed man.
3424. If you see a white horse, you will meet a red-headed
girl.
3425. To see a white horse turning a corner and see a red-
headed girl coming up the street, brings good luck.
3426. If you see a white horse and look over your left
shoulder, you will see the Devil.
3427. When you see a white horse say,
"Lippity, lippity, white horse;
When you have good luck bring it to me."
You will then have good luck.
3428. A horseshoe hung up inverted, brings good luck.
3429. It brings good luck to find a horseshoe with the
points towards you and to hang it up.
3430. For good luck, spit on a horseshoe and throw it
away without watching to see where it goes.
3431. If you find a horseshoe, spit through it and throw it
over your left shoulder for good luck.
3432. If you spit on one side of a horseshoe, toss it up,
and have the side you spit on turn up, you will have
good luck.
3433. If you find a horseshoe on a fence, or see one on a
fence, it will bring you good luck.
3434. It causes bad luck to pick up a broken horseshoe.
3435. It causes bad luck to pass a horseshoe without pick-
ing it up and hanging it up.
3436. He that takes down a horseshoe that has been hung
up will be hung up in place of it Blue Grass
3437. If you count the number of holes in a horseshoe that
you have found, you will have so many years of
good luck.
3438. One horseshoe under the door-step and one in the
255
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
fire will keep the hawks away from your chickens.
3439. If you hang a horseshoe on the andiron, the hawks
will not catch your chickens.
3440. To keep hawks away from the chickens, have a
horseshoe in your stove or in your fireplace.
3441. If you put some shining brass over a horseshoe, you
can thus keep off the hawks from your chickens.
3442. Good lock comes from carrying a horseshoe nail in
the pocket.
3443. Put horseshoe nails into the cooking stove to keep
the hawks from catching the chickens.
3444. Put a horse hair into a bottle of water. After seven
(or nine) days it will become a snake.
3445. If you kill a mule, you will have sixteen years of
bad luck.
3446. If a mule turns over once, it is worth one hundred
dollars.
3447. If a mule turns over twice, it is worth two hundred
dollars.
3448. If a mule turns over, it is worth two hundred and
fifty dollars.
3449. A mule that cannot turn over is not worth fifty
dollars.
3450. To pick up a coin in a mule's track, will bring good
luck.
3451. It brings very good luck to stamp all the gray mules
you see and all the gray horses.
3452. It causes bad luck to see a gray mule six times.
3453. If you stamp one hundred gray mules, you will
have good luck.
3454. If you see a white mule, you will see a red-haired
negro.
256
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3455. Mean negroes return after death as mules.
3456. All bricklayers will turn to gray mules when they
die Western Kentucky
3457. A muleshoe is a sign of bad luck. Do not keep one.
3458. A white mule will never die.
Whoever saw a dead gray mule or a poacher's
grave?
3459. It brings bad luck for a rabbit to cross your path.
3460. To avert the bad luck attending the crossing of
his path by a rabbit, the traveler must go back and
start over.
3461. It brings bad luck for a rabbit to cross in front of
you from right to left.
3462. If a rabbit crosses your path from right to left, be
careful not to walk in the dark for three days.
3463. It causes good luck for a rabbit to cross before you
from left to right,
3464. If a rabbit crosses the road from right to left in
front of you, pull a hair out of your head, to change
the bad luck to good.
3465. Avert the bad luck of a rabbit's crossing the road
to your left by going to where it crossed, making
a cross and spitting into it.
3466. It is well to kill the first rabbit you see in the winter
Mountains
3467. If you see two white rabbits at night, there will be
a death in the family Western Kentucky
3468. You will have good luck if you wear the left hind
leg of a graveyard rabbit, shot by a red-headed,
cross-eyed negro in the dark of the moon.
3469. The good luck rabbit's foot is the left hind foot of
257
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
a rabbit, killed in a graveyard at midnight, with a
stick ten feet long.
3470. If you kill a rabbit in the light of the new moon and
carry its foot around your neck, you will have good
luck.
3471. The left hind foot of a rabbit shot in a graveyard at
midnight in the dark of the moon with a bullet
made out of a qunrter found in a horse's track, will
bring good luck.
3472. If you will get the left hind foot of a graveyard
rabbit on a rainy Friday night, you will have good
luck.
3473. You will have bad luck if you touch the left hind
foot of a rabbit which has been killed at midnight
in a cemetery on Friday, the thirteenth day of the
month, by a cross-eyed negro.
3474. If one carries the ear of a jack-rabbit in his pocket,
good luck will come.
3475. When you shiver without cause, a rabbit is stepping
over your grave.
3476. If a rat cuts your clothes, it brings bad luck to mend
the garment yourself.
3477. If a mouse or a rat gnaws your clothes, expect a
death or a disaster.
3478. If a mouse eats your clothes, you will never live to
wear them out.
3479. When rats increase in great numbers, a war is im-
minent Central Kentucky
3480. If a rat runs up inside the clock, your dog will die.
3481. If you can auctioneer off a rat killed on your place,
all the rats will go to the buyer. (You must re-
ceive some compensation.)
258
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3482. Singe the hairs of a rat and turn it loose; the rest
of the rats will leave Negroes
3483. If the inmates of a rat-infested house will write the
name of some person on a piece of paper, well
greased with lard, and put it where the rats will
get it, telling them where they will find a better
larder, they will forsake this house and go to that
mentioned in the paper Western Kentucky
3484. To catch two mice in one trap brings bad luck.
3485. Rats abandon a doomed boat or a falling house.
3486. If when you open a drawer a rat runs out, you will
have good luck.
3487. It causes bad luck to cross through sheep
North-eastern Kentucky
3488. To make an old ewe own her lamb, take the lamb by
the feet and rub his back against her stomach.
She will claim it Central Kentucky
3489. You will have good luck if a squirrel crosses the
road in front of you Southern Kentucky
3490. It causes bad luck for a squirrel to cross your path
Western Kentucky
3491. If a ground squirrel that you are looking at goes
to the right, you will know your lesson.
3492. If a ground squirrel that a schoolboy or girl is look-
ing at goes to the left, the child will miss his lesson.
3493. A flying squirrel will always bark when he sees a
ghost Western Kentucky
3494. It brings good luck to have a terrapin or mud turtle
in your garden Mountain
3495. If you kill a toad, there will be rain.
3496. To kill a toad will bring bad luck.
259
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3497. If you kill a toad, some of your family will die be-
fore the year is out.
3498. If you kill a toad, your cow will go dry.
3499. If you kill a toad, your cow will give bloody milk.
3500. By throwing a toad into a pond, you will cause the
cows to give bloody milk.
3501. If you kill a toad, you will stump your toe.
3502. If you see a toad, you will stump your toe.
3503. If you do not spit when you see a toad, you will be
sure to have a wart.
3504. If you bury a toad alive, you will see spirits
Mountains
(Contributed in this form: "If you Beary a frog
and hit alive youl see hants.")
3505. At two o'clock on the first Thursday in July, toads
turn pink in color. At half past two they regain
their natural color.
3506. Carry the jawbone of a tree toad for luck for ex-
ample to keep out of jail Mountains
3507. Kill a tree toad. Put the head in a snuffbox until
ants have eaten the flesh away. Break the lower
jawbone into two parts. Put the right half into
your clothes and the left half, which has a burr on
it, into the hem of a woman's garment. She will
not be able to get away from you Mountains
3508. If you kill a tortoise, it will sleep on your neck the
next night Mountains
3509. You will have bad luck if a bird lights in your path
Mountains
3510. If birds make nests of your discarded hair, your
hair will tangle.
260
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3511. If birds make nests of your discarded hair, you may
expect headache.
3512. If birds make nests of your discarded hair, you will
die before next spring.
3513. If birds make nests of your discarded hair, you will
become insane.
3514. If a bird flies against your window, you will receive
a message.
3515. Birds flying against your window bring bad luck.
3516. A bird that flies into a house brings bad luck with it.
3517. If a bird comes into a room in which you happen
to be and you speak before you get it out, you will
suffer ill luck Mountains
3518. The flying of a bird into the house is a sign of death.
3519. When a bird comes into the house and a picture falls
down at the same time, a death will occur in the
family Blue Grass
3520. If a bird of any kind flies into a sick room and lights
on the bed post where the sick one is lying, there
will be a death in the family in a short time
Western Kentucky
3521. If a bird in the house injures itself, there will be a
death North-eastern Kentucky
3522. If a bird comes into the house and lights on the
stove, the building will be burned Mountains
3523. The flying of birds around the house is a sign of
visitors Western Kentucky
3524. If you put salt on a bird's tail, you may marry any
one that you desire.
3525. You will have bad luck if you break a bird's egg.
3526. If you throw a piece of feather over a house, you
will find a sack of gold where it falls . . Mountains
261
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3527. It brings bad luck to have a blackbird fly across
your path. You will have bad luck before you ar-
rive at your destination Mountains
3528. To eat chicken feet makes one beautiful.
3529. Go behind the door and eat a chicken foot, to be-
come beautiful.
3530. To become beautiful, eat chicken gizzards.
3531. To become beautiful, swallow a chicken gizzard
whole.
3532. To swallow a raw chicken-heart brings good luck.
3533. It brings good luck to have a ten-toed chicken ....
Blue Grass
3534. Hens will not lay in a field where there are potatoes.
3535. If you set hens in the afternoon, you will have bad
luck Mountains
3536. If a hen is set after the sun goes down, all the eggs
will hatch Central Kentucky
3537. It is well to set an odd number of eggs.
3538. If you carry eggs for setting to the nest in a bucket,
they will all hatch roosters. If you carry the eggs
to the nest in a basket, they will all hatch pullets
Western Kentucky
3539. If you place the eggs under a sitting hen with the
left hand, they will hatch hens; with the right hand,
roosters Blue Grass
3540. If you set a hen on thirteen eggs, she will not hatch
so well as on another number . . Western Kentucky
3541. If after the chickens begin to hatch, you put the
shells up higher than the chickens can jump, the
hawks will not catch the chickens Mountains
3542. To keep an old hen from sitting, put her head under
262
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
her wing and dip her into a tub of water three times.
She will not sit again Central Kentucky
3543. If a chicken is hatched in the spring, it will lay only
every second day. If it is hatched in the fall, it
will lay every day Mountains
3544. Chickens hatched in June are said to sleep all the
time.
3545. It is unlucky to bring in or take out eggs after dark.
3546. String eggshells on the twigs of trees to keep the
hawks away Mountains
3547. Bake eggshells and feed them to chickens to make
them lay Southern Kentucky
3548. It causes bad luck to find a soft-shelled egg.
3549. You can avert the bad luck that a soft-shelled egg
brings by throwing it over the house.
3550. The general cackling of hens is a prophecy of bad
luck Blue Grass
3551. A "bullrock," also called a "jackrock" (a small
round rock), in the ashes keeps hawks away from
chickens.
3552. A round rock in the fire will cause a hawk's claws to
draw up to that shape, so that it cannot catch chick-
ens.
3553. Put an Indian arrow into the chimney to keep off
hawks.
3554. Any kind of flint rock in the chimney will keep off
hawks.
3555. To keep a hawk off your chickens, carry a hawk
rock in your pocket.
3556. A bottle half -full of water tied on a pole will keep
away the hawks 1 Mountains
i For other signs for keeping hawks away, see numbers 343S-3443.
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3557. If hawks attack chickens, keep a poker in the fire
until it is red hot; then take it out and make a
young girl tell you her sweetheart's name. The
hawks will vanish.
3558. If a cock crows before the door early in the day,
a visitor will arrive.
3559. If a rooster looks in at the door and crows, some-
one will leave the family Mountains.
3560. If a rooster looks out of the door, someone is com-
ing into the family.
3561. If a rooster crows before breakfast, someone will
come before supper.
3562. If a rooster crows before breakfast, you will have
visitors before you sleep.
3563. A cock's crowing in the front door brings a guest.
3564. If a rooster crows while looking in at the door, ex-
pect a stranger the next day.
3565. Someone is coming if a rooster crows. He will
come from the direction in which the rooster's tail
points.
3566. If a rooster crows in the kitchen, a tramp is coming.
3567. If a cock crows before your door, there will be a
death in the neighborhood.
3568. If a rooster crows three times in the door, a death
will follow.
3569. If a rooster crows on a fence with his head turned
toward the house, welcome guests will arrive. . . ,
Mountains
3570. If a rooster crows on a fence with his head turned
away from the house, unwelcome guests may be
expected Mountains
3571. When a rooster crows with his head turned toward
264
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
the door, there will be an increase in the family . . .
Mountains
3572. When a rooster crows with his head from the door,
there will be a decrease in the family . . . Mountains
3573. The presence of chickens on the porch indicates the
arrival of a large amount of company.
3574. If your neighbor's rooster whips your rooster, your
chickens will not do well.
3575. If a rooster crows in the back-yard, a man will come.
3576. A cock's crowing in the back door brings a servant
visitor.
3577. If a rooster jumps upon a fence and crows, some-
one is coming.
3578. When a rooster crows at night, expect company the
next day.
3579. If two roosters fight, a man is coming.
3580. If two hens fight, expect two women. If one hen
is dark and the other light, one woman will wear
dark and the other light clothes.
3581. If two hens fight in the door, two women are com-
ing.
3582. If two old hens are fighting, two old women are
coming soon.
3583. If a rooster crows before ten o'clock at night, bad
news may be expected.
3584. When a rooster crows at noon, hasty news in the
neighborhood may be expected . Louisville Negroes
3585. If a rooster crows at a certain time in the night, you
will hear hurried news.
3586. If a rooster crows about dusk, you will hear unex-
pected news.
265
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3587. It is a sign of bad luck when a rooster goes crowing
to roost.
3588. If a cock crows on the roost, someone in the family
will die.
3589. If the cocks crow on the roost, you will hear bad
news of some one of your relatives.
3590. If a rooster begins to crow about nine o'clock at
night, it will turn cold.
3591. If a rooster crows before midnight, there will be
a fire.
3592. A rooster's crowing at night, except at Christmas
time, is a sign of bad luck.
3593. There will be bad luck in the family if a rooster
crows on the steps on Sunday, unless he is killed at
once Mountains
3594. Should you find a feather in your hair in the morn-
ing, you will get a whipping Blue Grass
3595. "A whistling woman or a crowing hen, never comes
to a very good end."
3596. "A woman that whistles or a hen that crows, has
her way wherever she goes."
3597. When a hen crows in the door, someone in the fami-
ly will die.
3598. A crowing hen must be put to death; otherwise
death in the family or other bad luck will follow.
3599. It is a very bad omen for a chicken to die in one's
hand.
3600. It is disastrous to let the chicken head die in your
hand when a chicken is killed.
3601. If you pull a bunch of feathers from the back of a
chicken's head before you wring its neck, it will
not flop Mountains
266
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3602. To make a chicken die quietly after you have wrung
its neck, pluck three feathers from its breast
Mountains
3603. After wringing a chicken's neck, pull some feathers
from its back and put them on its breast, to make
it die quietly.
3604. A black chicken's meat is coarser than that of other
chickens.
3605. The scratching of a gray chicken under a window
means bad luck.
3606. If on your way to a funeral, you meet a white
chicken, you will have bad luck.
3607. A turtle-dove's cry on the first day of the year
means a good crop year Western Kentucky
3608. The flying of a turtle-dove over a house portends
death in the family.
3609. If a turtle-dove comes into the room, there will be
a death before the week is out Mountains
3610. If you hear a turtle-dove call as you are going up a
hill, you will have bad luck the rest of the year. . . .
Southern Kentucky
3611. If you kill a turtle-dove, you will have a boil, car-
buncle, or other skin eruption.
3612. It is a sign of death to see two turtle-doves in a
tree Blue Grass
3613. If you see a white turtle-dove before breakfast, your
father will die very soon Mountains
3614. If a duck comes into your kitchen, you will never
starve Blue Grass
3615. Wild geese flying south make the initials of each
state through which they pass Negroes
3616. It brings good luck to pass a flock of geese.
267
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3617. If an owl hoots, someone will die.
3618. If an owl hoots on the top of a house, there will be
a death in that household.
3619. It brings bad luck to imitate the hoot of an owl. . .
Blue Grass
3620. If an owl hoots at the door for three successive
nights, the sound foretells a death in the house.
3621. An owl's hoot about midnight is a sign that a mem-
ber of the family will meet with an accident.
3622. Tie a knot in your dress or skirt to stop an owl's
hoot.
3623. Avert the disaster of an owl's hooting by turning
an old shoe upside down.
3624. To make an owl stop hooting, take off your left
shoe and turn it over.
3625. An owl will stop hooting if you pull your shoes off
and cross them.
3626. To stop an owl from hooting, turn the toes of your
shoes to touch the wall.
3627. To avert the disaster that follows the hoot of an
owl, heat a poker until it is red hot.
3628. If you eat the lights of a partridge, you will have
success in love.
3629. To hear a peacock cry or to see a peacock means
bad luck.
3630. A peacock feather brought into a house will surely
cause death.
3631. Do not put your hand into a pigeon's nest, for the
pigeon will not come back.
3632. If a pigeon flies against the window, there will be
a death in the household.
268
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3633. The cooing of pigeons is a sign of death in the
family to which they belong Blue Grass
3634. It causes bad luck to kill a raincrow.
3635. It brings bad luck to have a redbird fly across the
road when you are out riding.
3636. You can avert the ill luck which the flying of a red-
bird across your path brings by turning the lap-
apron over Southern Kentucky
3637. If a redbird flies across the road in front of you,
you will get a letter.
3638. If a redbird crosses your path, going to the right,
good luck will follow.
3639. If a redbird crosses your path, going to the left,
bad luck will follow.
3640. If you see a redbird, you will get a letter.
3641. If a redbird comes into your house, the house will
be burned Mountains
3642. It brings good luck to see a Kentucky Cardinal.
3643. If a redbird or a Kentucky Cardinal flies in front
of your door, someone unexpected is coming.
3644. If you see a redbird in the morning, you will see
one of your cousins before night Mountains
3645. If you see a redbird on Saturday, your sweetheart
is coming.
3646. The sight of a robin means that someone is coming.
3647. To kill a robin will bring bad luck.
3648. When you see a robin, spit on your fingers and
stamp them with your fist; if you go through this
operation a hundred times, you will find something
Blue Grass
3649. If you put salt on a sparrow's tail, you may catch it.
269
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3650. If a lone turkey-buzzard flies over the house, some-
one is coming.
8651. If a turkey-buzzard flies close to the house, some-
one wiD die Blue Grass
3652. If a turkey-buzzard is killed with a gun, the gun
will soon burst and will never be of any more value
Western Kentucky
3653. If a whippoorwill sings in a tree near the house, a
death will follow.
3654. You will have bad luck if you kill a whippoorwill . .
Mountains
3655. If a woodpecker picks on a tree in the immediate
neighborhood of your house, expect a caller
Blue Grass
3656. If a woodpecker is heard on or near the house, there
will be a death.
3657. If a woodpecker pecks on the roof of a house, a
person will die there soon.
3658. It brings bad luck to kill a wren.
3659. A wren building near a house brings good luck.
3660. If a bat flies into a house at night, there will be
someone missing the next night.
3661. If a bat lights on one's head, it will stay there until
there is thunder.
3662. You will have bad luck if you kill a bat.
3663. If a honey-bee flies before you, you will get a letter,
3664. A yellow honey-bee is a sign of good luck.
3665. A black honey-bee is a sign of death.
3666. It brings bad luck to sell a beehive; if you sell one,
the contents of two hives will die.
3667. All of your bees will die if you count your bee hives.
3668. If you ring a bell while bees are swarming, you can
270
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
drown the orders of the kingbee or the lieutenants.
3669. When the head of the house dies, someone must go
out to whisper his death to the bees; unless this
precaution is taken, they will leave or die
Negroes
3670. If a butterfly comes into the house, a lady will call
wearing a dress of the same color.
3671. If a butterfly comes into the porch, somebody is
coming.
3672. If you bite a butterfly's head off, you will have a
dress the color of its wings, or, as some believe,
the color of the butterfly.
3673. It causes bad luck to pull a butterfly's wing off. .
Mountains
3674. If a butterfly lights on you, you will get a new
suit of clothes.
3675. It is a sign of good luck to have a butterfly light
on your shoulder.
3676. Put some green pennyroyal in your pocket, to keep
away chiggers Mountains
3677. When a crab bites one, it will not let go until there
is thunder.
3678. If a crawfish catches your toes, it will hold on until
there is thunder.
3679. To kill a cricket will cause bad luck.
3680. If you kill a cricket, the rest of the crickets will eat
your clothes.
3681. If a cricket is killed, its mate will come and cut the
socks or stockings of the killer.
3682. A cricket brings luck into a house.
3683. It brings bad luck for a cricket to crawl over a hoe
Mountains
271
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3684. It brings good luck to hear a cricket singing after
you go to bed at night.
3685. A doodle-bug will obey the following rhymed com-
mand, spoken at its hole:
"Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, come out of your hole,
If you don't I'll beat you as black as a mole."
3686. If you speak the following words at a doodle-bug's
hole it will come up:
"Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, doodle-bug,
Jim fire's burning up."
3687. If after catching an eel you draw a circle around it,
it cannot get out of the circle.
3688. If you put your initials on a terrapin's shell he will
never leave your farm.
3689. If a firefly comes into the house, there will be one
person more or one fewer the next day, that is,
someone will go or someone will come.
3690. In firefly season, toads will eat fire.
3691. If you cut a fishing worm into pieces, each piece
becomes a complete worm.
3692. If you kill a fly, ten flies will come to the funeral.
3693. If a fly flies around your face continually, a
stranger wishes to meet you.
3694. If you kill a daddy-long-legs, the cows will go dry.
3695. If you kill a daddy-long legs, you will lose all your
cows Mountains
3696. A white shell-shaped bone from the head of a fish
brings good luck. In particular it prevents loss of
money, if it is carried in the purse.
3697. If you speak the following couplet to a grasshop-
per, he will obey you:
272
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
"Spit tobacco- juice,
And I'll turn you loose."
3698. It brings bad luck to kill a lady-bug.
3699. A lady-bug will obey the following piece of advice,
if it is whispered into its hole:
"Lady bug, lady bug,
Fly away home.
Your house is on fire;
Your children will burn."
3700. If you kill a spring lizard, your spring will go dry
3701. Locusts come every seventeen years; if they have
a W on the wing, it means, woe, war and want. . .
Southern Kentucky
3702. The first louse found in a child's head, if cracked
on a tin cup, will make a dancer of the child; on a
song-book, a singer; on the Bible, a reader; on the
child's head, a simpleton! Mountains
3703. To dream of head lice will bring money.
3704. A white moth flying is the spirit of a grandparent
hovering near.
3705. If you knock down a mud-dauber's nest, you will
break your dishes Western Kentucky
3706. If you carry a piece of oyster shell in your pocket-
book, you will have good luck always in the way of
riches North-eastern Kentucky
3707. When you kill a snake, it will not die until sundown.
3708. If you put a coal on a snake's stomach, while it is
awaiting sundown to die, its legs will come out, and
it will walk.
3709. If a snake dies before sundown, there will be bad
luck.
273
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3710. If you spit into a snake's trail, the snake will die . .
Western Kentucky
3711. If you step on a dead snake, there will be sores on
your feet Mountains
3712. If you do not kill the first snake you see every year,
you will not overcome your enemies.
3713. If you find the first snake that you see in the spring
dead, your enemies are all conquered.
3714. If you kill a snake at mating time, its mate will
come to the body.
3715. If you kill a snake and hang it over a fence, you
will not see any more snakes that day . . Blue Grass
3716. If you cut a snake into pieces and leave them to-
gether, the fragments will unite and crawl away.
3717. Snakes are blind in August.
3718. Snakes will not come about a garden where gourds
grow Western Kentucky
3719. Snakes may be kept off by the carrying of snake-
root.
3720. Black snakes suck cows.
3721. Keep a black snake with you, to drive away bad
luck Mountains
3722. If you kill a snake that has sucked a cow, the cow
will go dry.
3723. It causes bad luck to touch a rattlesnake skin.
3724. The rattles of a rattlesnake kept in a violin bring
good luck to the owner Western Kentucky
3725. If you receive rattle-snake rattles from someone,
you will come to no harm while that person is near
Mountains
3726. Snake dust (that is, the dust made by pulverizing
274
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
a dried snake), shaken into one's shoes, will poison
one Negroes
3727. A "snake-doctor" (that is, a dragon-fly) warns
snakes of danger and shows them the whereabouts
of food.
3728. It causes bad luck to kill a dragon-fly.
3729. If a dragon-fly lights on your line while you are
fishing, the fish will not bite.
3730. The crawling of a spider on you brings good luck.
3731. It causes bad luck to kill a spider found crawling
on you.
3732. A spider at night brings good luck. Do not kill it.
3733. If a spider comes down in front of your face, you
will get a letter. But if you kill the spider, you
will not get the letter.
3734. If you catch a spider weaving its web downward,
catch it in the palm of your hand and kill it. You
will receive a letter.
3735. If a spider crawls on your head, a letter will come
from the direction it is moving.
3736. If a spider weaves a web over your head, you will
get a letter.
3737. If a spider lets a web down on your shoulder, you
will get a letter.
3738. If a spider spins its thread in the doorway or in
front of one's face, a welcome visitor may be ex-
pected.
3739. The crawling of a spider on your bed foretells the
coming of a stranger.
3740. By killing a spider on your bed, you prevent the
coming of a stranger.
3741. When a spider swings down from a web in front of
275
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
you, you will see a good friend whom you are not
expecting.
3742. If a spider crawls up the door, a stranger is coming,
3743. "Where the spider-webs grow,
The beaus don't go."
3744. If a spider gets on your dress, you will have a new
one.
3745. It is lucky to find a spider on your clothes. It
spins your wealth.
3746. If a spider is hanging over your head, you will re-
ceive money.
3747. Carry a dead spider in your shoe for good luck.
3748. If you catch a spider on you, wrap it up and put it
into your stocking for luck.
3749. If a spider spins a web in front of you, take it and
put it into your pocket-book alive. It is supposed
to bring you money Mountains
3750. It brings bad luck to kill a black spider . . Blue Grass
3751. If there is a black spider on you, you will get a let-
ter from a black-headed person.
3752. With every spider that you kill, you kill an enemy,
3753. A spider on a bride's trousseau brings good luck.
3754. It causes good luck to go through a spider-web.
3755. It is unlucky to see a spider spin his web from the
ceiling at night.
3756. It brings good luck to see a spider spin his web
from the ceiling in the morning.
3757. If you run into a cobweb, you will get a letter
Blue Grass
3758. Brightly-colored spiders, lizards, snakes, and the
like are poisonous Mountains
3759. All spiders and tarantulas are poisonous.
276
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3760. It is firmly believed by the people of Leslie County,
a mountain county, that President McKinley's
name was written by spiders in their webs as a
prophecy of his death Mountains
3761. If you cut a tick's head off and bury its body with its
back down, there will be rain Mountains
3762. If you kill a turtle, it will not die until sundown.
3763. When a turtle bites, it will hold on until there is
thunder.
3764. If a wasp flies into the house, it brings good luck
for the family Mountains
3765. If you see a fever worm, you must spit on it over
your left shoulder; otherwise you will have typhoid
fever.
3766. When you see a fever worm, you must, to avert a
fever, spit three times.
3767. It brings bad luck to kill a fever worm.
3768. If you sit in the sun and look at a yellow caterpillar,
you will have a chill Western Kentucky
3769. If a measuring worm measures your whole length,
you will die.
3770. If you find a measuring worm on your dress, suit,
or hat, you will have a new one.
3771. If you see a thousand-legged worm, you will die,
unless you spit or stamp your feet Mountains
3772. If a thousand-legged worm counts your teeth, you
will die. Therefore close your mouth in the pres-
ence of one Mountains
WITCHES
3773. To become a witch, go to a mountain top at dawn,
shoot through a handkerchief at the rising sun,
277
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
curse Jehovah three times, and own the Devil as
master. When you shoot through the handker-
chief, blood will fall from it Mountains
3774. To become a witch: the candidate goes with the
Devil to the top of the highest hill at sunrise nine
successive days and curses God; the Devil then
places one hand on the candidate's head and one on
his feet, and receives the promise that all between
his hands shall be devoted to his service . Mountains
3775. To become a witch, you shoot at the moon nine
times with a silver bullet, cursing God each time
Mountains
3776. You can become a witch by taking a spinning-wheel
to the top of a hill, giving yourself up to the Devil,
and waiting until the wheel begins to turn. The
witches will then come to instruct you . . Mountains
3777. One who teaches witchcraft to more than three peo-
ple will herself lose the power Mountains
3778. If a witch goes to church, she will sit with her back
toward the minister Northern Kentucky
3779. If an old woman has but one tooth in her mouth,
she is a witch Mountains
3780. A witch frequently takes the form of a black cat.
3781. When a witch is at her mischief, she is invisible to
everybody except the person bewitched . Mountains
3782. A witch can kill a person or animal with a witch or
hair ball, which is made by rolling a small bunch
of hair from a squirrel, horse, or cow into a hard,
round ball Mountains
3783. By rubbing a hand over a gun, a witch can put a
"spell" on it, so that its shot will not hit anything
Mountains
278
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3784. A witch can put a "spell" on a dog, and thus make
him back-track on a deer's trail. She rubs her hand
over the dog Mountains
3785. If you find a small egg in a hen's nest, you will
have trouble, for it is a witch-egg
Northern Kentucky
3786. If a horse's mane is matted in the morning, the
witches have ridden him during the night.
3787. If you ride your horse on the same day that you
have found witch stirrups in his mane, he will
throw you.
3788. Tie strands of a horse's mane or tail together, to
keep off witches.
3789. Plait your horse's mane with corn shucks, to pre-
vent witches from riding him . . Western Kentucky
3790. Witches transfer milk from the victim's cow to their
own cows Mountains
3791. A witch can obtain butter by merely squeezing the
handle of an ordinary table fork.
3792. If you burn the wisp of the bushy part of a cow's
tail, the animal will cease to be bewitched
Mountains
3793. A bewitched cow is cured by the witch-doctor's tak-
ing some hair from the sick cow's back and boiling
some of her milk over the fire into which the hair
had been thrown Mountains
3794. If your cow is bewitched, shut the door, do not let
her have anything to eat, and then milk her in
silence without looking up Mountains
3795. To free butter from a witch's control, put a horse-
bridle over the churn Blue Grass Negroes
3796. If the butter will not come, drop a red hot horse-
279
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
shoe into the milk to kill the witches; then the but-
ter will come Mountains
3797. For bewitched milk, heat the filings from a horse-
shoe and put them into the milk. The butter will
then come, and by next day something disastrous
will happen to the witch that will establish her
identity Mountains
3798. To avert a witch charm, put a spindle into the
churn Mountains
3799. If butter will not come, put a hot poker into the
churn. You will thus drive away witches
Mountains
3800. If the butter will not gather, put a dime into the
bottom of the churn Mountains
3801. Money should be put into the churn to keep away
witches Mountains
3802. To keep witches off, let some drops of the cow's
milk fall on a piece of silver Mountains
3803. To keep witches off, keep a piece of silver in a
glass of water and sprinkle the cow's back with the
water every few days Western Kentucky
3804. When a cow is bewitched, the charm may be broken
by cutting her tongue with a silver coin sharpened
on a grindstone Mountains
3805. Never go to bed with your shoes higher than your
head, for if you do, the witches will be after you
for three months Mountains
3806. If you are awake at eleven, you will see witches and
black cats at twelve Mountains
3807. If a fire that you are attempting to make goes out
three times, you are bewitched . . Central Kentucky
280
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3808. If a spider is consumed through falling into a lamp,
witches are near Blue Grass
3809. The twitching of the eye is a sign that one is he-
witched.
3810. If you step on a crack in a sidewalk, a witch will
appear and seize you.
3811. It is unwise to keep egg shells because witches go to
sea in them. Burn the shells.
3812. The witch-hazel leaf should not be plucked and car-
ried about you. Witches conjure with it.
3813. A person that does not believe in witches cannot be
bewitched.
3814. Witches cannot cross running water.
3815. Take a chew of tobacco to keep off the witches. . . .
Mountains
3816. A piece of rattlesnake skin worn in the clothing
keeps witches away Mountains
3817. One penny will prevent the witches from riding you
Western Kentucky
3818. If you put a silver dollar under your head, the
witches cannot trouble you Mountains
3819. A piece of silver in the pocket or a silver ring on the
finger or on the horse's bridle will keep the witches
away Mountains
3820. To keep off witches and evil spirits, you must take
off your hat and turn it around.
3821. A negro with a rabbit foot, mounted on a white
horse in the dark of the moon in a cemetery, will
break a witch spell Mountains
3822. If a jack-o'-lantern gets on your back, it will ride
you until morning. Avert this fate by turning
your coat wrong side out.
281
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3823. When you lie on the ground, draw circles around
you with a willow fork, to keep off the witches.
3824. If when you see a bunch of hair near the door you
fail to pick it up, the witches will overtake you be-
fore midnight Mountains
3825. A witch cannot step over a broom.
3826. Witches will not trouble you at night, if you sleep
with a Bible under your head Mountains
3827. If you are troubled by witches, it is a good plan to
sleep with a meal sifter over the face. When the
witches come to worry you, they are compelled to
pass back and forth through every mesh. By this
time you will have had sufficient sleep and can
get up Western Kentucky
3828. If you ban ga bread sifter on a door-knob at night,
you will find witches in it the next morning
Louisville Negroes
3829. Draw a picture of a witch that is tormenting you
and shoot through it with a silver bullet.
3830. Get rid of a witch by shooting her picture over run-
ning water Mountains
3831. You may kill a witch by shooting at her picture
over running water. If you shoot the picture un-
der other conditions, you may break the charm but
may not hurt the witch Mountains
3832. If you are about to break a witch's charm by shoot-
ing her picture with a silver bullet, she can break
the charm, provided she or a member of her family
borrows anything from you or your family
Mountains
3833. You can remove a witch's charm and also kill her by
driving a nail through her picture near the heart,
282
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
and then by striking it once each day for nine days
Mountains
3834. You can break a witch's hold on you by boiling
ragweed in a pot, beating it all the time. She can
break the charm by borrowing from you or having
any of her family do so Mountains
3835. You can cure a bewitched person by removing daily
one twig from a bundle of nine willow twigs which
you have gathered Mountains
3836. If you are afflicted with witches, a hoodoo ball made
of gum and purchased with a piece of silver will
scare away the witches . . . North-eastern Kentucky
3837. To break the charm of a witch, spit on the brush end
of a broom, once for the witch and once for each
member of her family. Brush it down the rear of
the fireplace ; then place the broom across the front
door. Finally send for her. She can do you no
further harm unless you give or lend her salt or
something else Mountains
3838. To drive off a witch, place a dime under the hearth
Mountains
3839. To remove a witch's hold on a person, cut the witch
out of the victim's leg Mountains
KOODOOS
3840. Hoodoo a person by putting a shoe with a dead rat
in it on his door step Western Kentucky
3841. To hoodoo a person, shake down dust on him
through a crack in the ceiling. .Blue Grass Negroes
3842. To hoodoo anyone, put snake dust (that is, the dust
made by pulverizing a dried snake) into his shoes
Blue Grass Negroes
283
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3843. To hoodoo a person, put an old shoe full of red
pepper under his house . . North-eastern Kentucky
3844. To do harm to a person, take a lock of his hair,
burn a part, throw a part to the wind, and bury
a part.
3845. A hoodoo bag is a red flannel bag about six by four
inches in size, containing a pinch of salt, a pod of
red pepper, a rabbit's foot, a chicken spur, and
some ashes. It must be "made in dead o' night,
widout a spec' o' light." Central Kentucky Negroes
3846. A blue-gummed negro is dangerous. He has the
hoodoo power.
3847. To keep a person from hoodooing you, wear red
pepper in the heel of your shoe
Blue Grass Negroes
3848. Put red pepper in your shoe, to keep off a con-
jurer's work Central Kentucky Negroes
3849. If you wear a silver dime in your shoe, you cannot
be hoodooed Louisville Negroes
3850. Wear a piece of silver about each ankle to keep
from coming under the power of the hoodoo
Central Kentucky Negroes
3851. Negroes keep chickens with the feathers turned
back the wrong way, to keep away the hoodoos . . .
Negroes
3852. Hoodoos can often be warded off by a change of
the victim's home or room
Western Kentucky Negroes
3853. The victim of a hoodoo may break the charm by
giving up a sweetheart or a lover
Western Kentucky Negroes
3854. To overcome a hoodoo, kill a scorpion, dry it by
284
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
smoking it, beat it to a powder, mix the powder
with whiskey, and drink the mixture
Central Kentucky Negroes
3855. Hoodoo doctors, as they are commonly called, are
considered able to break hoodoo charms and also to
cure illness Negroes
3856. A certain arrangement of sticks in a path that leads
to a house may cause a hoodoo. A hoodoo doctor
sometimes has all the sticks in such a path removed
before he attempts to treat an illness that is due
to a hoodoo Central Kentucky Negroes
3857. If anything is placed in a so-called conjuration
hand, the hand will move in such a way as to indi-
cate whether good or bad luck will follow
Louisville Negroes
3858. Negroes are said to be able to find "hoodoo tracks"
in ashes of the fire, which show that some kind of
disaster is coming to the house Negroes
HAUNTED HOUSES, GHOSTS, EVIL SPIRITS
3859. Almost every community has a house which the
credulous believe to be haunted.
3860. If a picture falls off the wall, the house is haunted
Central Kentucky Negroes
3861. If a snake runs across your foot in front of a house
which you are about to enter, the house is haunted
North-eastern Kentucky
3862. If a door closes or moves without any wind or other
visible cause, the house is haunted
North-eastern Kentucky
3863. If you bury anything alive, it will haunt you
Mountains
285
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3864. If a murder or suicide is committed in a house and
a drop of blood falls on the floor, the house will be
haunted and the blood can never be washed out
or painted over.
3865. If you have killed a person and are troubled over
the fact, go to his grave at midnight, face the north,
step forward over the grave and then backward
over it. You will be troubled no more
Central Kentucky Negroes
3866. A seventh son is able to see ghosts or spirits
Louisville colored
3867. One child in each family is able to raise knocking
spirits Mountains
3868. There is a legend in Kentucky that the shades of
departed Indians return from the Happy Hunting
Ground annually in the dark of the moon in Octo-
ber and silently tread again the old trails.
3869. "Happen," a spirit of the other world, knocks on
the wall when one in the house is sure to die
Blue Grass
3870. A deaf and dumb supper is prepared as follows.
While preparing this supper the participants must
neither speak or be spoken to by any one. All the
work must be done backwards, that is, they walk
backwards and hold their hands behind them while
doing the work. When all is ready for eating,
some supernatural sign appears to them. Some-
times it is two men carrying a corpse; or a large
white dog may appear. Whatever it may be, it
is always very alarming in appearance.
3871. A much feared animal, called the dog-eater, occa-
sionally appears in folk superstition. He is
286
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
thought to devour dogs and even other animals.
He also terrorizes people.
3872. Soldiers at the front usually have a "call" or
"vision" before death Blue Grass
3873. Ghosts are the spirits of people who died and were
not satisfied Blue Grass
3874. A sudden warm breeze means the passing of a
ghost Negroes
3875. If one asks a ghost what it desires, it will tell him
Blue Grass
3876. Negroes wear matches in their hair to keep evil
spirits away Negroes
3877. You can frighten evil spirits away by burning rub-
ber Mountains
3878. To keep away ghosts, put a feather duster in the
doorway Western Kentucky
3879. If a spirit or a ghost pursues you, stop in the mid-
dle of a stream and make the sign of the cross with
your fingers Mountains
3880. To frighten ghosts away when you meet them in a
lonely lane on a dark night, cross the left thumb
over the index finger, draw a long breath and ex-
claim in a sepulchral voice: "Skip-i-to!" No
ghost can withstand this process, especially if the
words are repeated Western Kentucky
3881. If one shoots at a ghost with a silver bullet, he will
kill it Blue Grass
3882. If you think you hear your name called, you will
probably die if you answer before you are sure ; for
it may be that the ghosts are calling your spirit. .
.Blue Grass
287
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
MISCELLANEOUS
3883. To change a will is unlucky.
3884. It brings bad luck for a boat to be christened with
anything but champagne.
3885. "Laughing's catching," that is, if you laugh at an-
other's bad luck, you will have bad luck yourself.
3886. To leave a book unfinished that you have begun to
read is unlucky Western Kentucky
3887. It causes bad luck to break a piece of candy or the
like in anybody else's hand.
3888. It is unlucky to throw a gift away.
3889. Never walk under a ladder, especially if there is
someone on the top of it, for bad luck will follow.
3890. If one jumps from a window, someone in the per-
son's family will pass away.
3891. To go through a window brings bad luck.
3892. If you forget anything, you will see a cross.
3893. It brings good luck to bury a pencil .... Mountains
3894. If you start to say something and do not finish it,
you will be disappointed . . North-eastern Kentucky
3895. If you measure a person while he is lying down, he
will soon die.
3896. It brings death to answer a mysterious voice
Negroes
3897. If you think that you hear someone call your name
when no one has done so, something bad will hap-
pen to the person whom you thought you heard call-
ing you.
3898. If you hear your name called, some soul in purga-
tory is calling for your prayers
North-eastern Kentucky
288
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3899. If you slip on a banana peeling, you will have bad
luck.
3900. It brings bad luck to boast (unless you knock on
wood) of immunity from any trouble or illness.
3901. Billikens bring good luck.
3902. After making a call, you must leave the room
through the same door by which you entered it.
3903. Leave any room by the door through which you en-
tered; otherwise you will have bad luck.
3904. If you give something away that is given you, it
will smell bad Blue Grass
3905. Misfortunes never come singly.
3906. If a person's given name is changed, he will die.
3907. Never whistle in a dressing room of a theatre. This
superstition is held by actors.
3908. It brings very bad luck to step over a hole.
3909. It brings bad luck to ring a bell upside down
Central Kentucky
3910. It brings bad luck to give away or spend anything
you find.
3911. If you sing secular music, you will come to grief. .
Mountains
3912. You will have good luck if you rub coal oil on your
neck Mountains
3913. It causes good luck to meet a gypsy fortune-teller.
3914. It is a sign of good luck if, upon opening the Bible,
your finger accidentally falls on the words, "Verily,
verily." Blue Grass
3915. Upon the first visit to the source of a spring, put a
pebble from the brook into the hem of your skirt.
Then lose it without being conscious of the loss.
You will have good luck Southern Kentucky
289
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3916. If you smoke a cigarette with a gold band on it,
you will have good luck.
3917. A whistling girl and a bleating sheep, will always
come to the top of the heap .... Western Kentucky
3918. To pick up gravel under the right foot and sleep on
it will bring good luck Mountains
3919. If you have hiccoughs, someone will tell a story on
you Mountains
3920. If you have hiccoughs, you have told a lie
Blue Grass
3921. If you once get your feet wet in the Cumberland
river, you will always return to the Kentucky
mountains Mountains
3922. Human vitality is always lowest between midnight
and morning.
3923. Human vitality is lowest at three o'clock in the
morning.
3924. If you cross your fingers when you see a one-legged
negro, you will remove the ill luck that follows the
sight of such a person Blue Grass
3925. Smoke follows beauty.
3926. Smoke from an out-of-door fire drifts to the most
beautiful person within range.
3927. If you go through an unfinished building, you will
see someone whom you are not expecting to see.
3928. If you use the same towel with another, you will
certainly quarrel with that person.
3929. The negroes think that when they "get religion,"
the Lord speaks to them directly. For instance,
one said that the Lord told him to crawl on a log
Negroes
290
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
3930. Poison oak will not affect a really black negro
Central Kentucky
3931. A sandman who sprinkles sand in the eyes is re-
sponsible for sleepiness.
3932. If you wish to learn to pick a banjo, take the banjo
to the forks of the road on a dark night and try it
Central Kentucky Negroes
3933. Engineers have a premonition that they should
avoid a certain run.
3934. If you curse God and shoot at the sun, you will be
able to see the wind Mountains
3935. If you start to tell a thing and forget it, what you
were planning to tell is not so Mountains
3936. If the dews are heavy in August, tobacco will weigh
heavy.
3937. Jews will not kill a chicken.
3938. In talking to someone if you call him by someone
else's name, the one named is thinking of you.
3939. "Come easy, go easy," that is, something that comes
without effort will be lost.
3940. A sudden silence in the midst of a conversation
means that an angel is passing through the room.
Human voices are hushed in reverence.
3941. If two persons collide at work, they will work to-
gether another year.
3942. If two people in bending over knock their heads
together, they will sleep together that night
Southern Kentucky
3943. A comet is a sign of war.
3944. If three persons in conversation say the same word
simultaneously, a fool is coming.
3945. "If you speak of an angel, you will hear the rustle
291
KENTUCKY SUPERSTITIONS
of his wings," that is, if you speak of anyone, you
will find him near.
3946. "If you speak of the Devil, he will appear." This
saying has the same meaning as the preceding one,
3947. Keep a seat for the unexpected guest. You will
some day entertain an angel in disguise . Blue Grass
3948. You will have good luck if you find a rusty nail.
You should not pick it up, but you should reverse
the ends just where the nail lies Mountains
3949. You will have bad luck if you follow the light of a
jack-o'-lantern Blue Grass Negroes
8950. A stone with a hole through the middle is a good
talisman Central Kentucky
3951. You will have bad luck if you find a stone with a
hole in it, unless it contains a crack from the outer
edge to the hole Central Kentucky
3952. To have iron or steel about you during a thunder
storm will bring good luck.
3953. A fool for luck.
3954. Some people have the power of finding under-
ground water with the use of a forked peach or
hazel switch. When the water-witch, as such a
person is called, walks above the water, the fork or
divining rod turns downward. 1
iThe divining rod is considered by some folk-lore students to have been
originally a symbol of forked lightning. See, for example, John Fiske: Myths
and Mythmakers, pp. '41-44, 64, 66-67.
292
INDEX
Ace, 3258.
Acorn, 1293, 2696.
Actors, 3119, 3907.
After-Birth, 14.
After Life, 1805.
Afternoon, 1677, 1678, 1856, 2366, 2477, 2539, 2585, 2771, 2876,
2879, 2880, 2963, 3535.
Alphabet, 258, 456, 476, 500.
Alter, 2281-2283.
Alum, 1289, 1294.
Amber, 1062, 1165, 1295, 1381, 2852.
Amputation, 1007, 1059, 1060.
Andiron, 3439.
Angels, 18, 1111, 1112, 1904, 3940, 3945, 3947.
Animals, 19, 857, 1070, 1107, 1487, 2327, 2715, 2839, 2843, 3262-
3508, 3782, 3792, 3871.
Ankle, 1160, 1327, 2281, 3850.
Ants, 1548 (white), 2328, 2862, 2927, 3507.
Apple, 200-212, 376, 377, 593, 853, 1114, 1430, 1431, 2251, 2252,
2884, 2974, 3395.
Appleblossom, 3003.
April, 617, 619, 2399, 2407, 2430, 2753, 2847, 2851, 2852, 2950,
3335.
Apron, 213-215, 2099-2101.
Arc-Light, 1301.
Arm, 47, 48, 536, 1018, 1019, 1059, 1060, 1159, 1429, 2253, 2254,
2258.
Armpit, 200.
Arrested, 1595, 1596, 1597, 3506.
Ashes, 1147, 1178, 1624, 2744, 2771, 2833, 3551, 3845, 3858.
Asparagus, 2904.
293
INDEX
Asthma, 1061, 1062.
August, 617, 2255, 2271, 2272, 2275, 2434, 2446, 2447, 2828, 2829,
2847, 2851, 2852, 3000, 3001, 3717.
Autumn, 549, 1312, 2250, 2330, 2352, 2527, 2669, 2680, 2682, 2684 ;
3543.
Aviator, 2128.
Axe, 2, 1079, 1094, 1662-1664.
B
Baby, 1-81, 84, 85, 272, 1020, 1128, 1138, 1166, 1241, 1256, 1370,
1372, 1378, 1383, 1384, 1386, 1387, 1390, 1392, 1394, 1396,
1770, 1773, 1905, 2296, 3099, (see, also, Child).
Bachelor, 323, 428, 693.
Back, 549, 715, 758, 864, 974, 998, 1017, 1064, 1065, 1080, 1081,
1240, 1280, 1325, 1604, 1636, 1637, 1851, 1998, 2025, 2319,
2347, 2348, 2573, 3088, 3107, 3211, 3233, 3349, 3352, 3488,
3574-3576, 3601, 3603, 3761, 3778, 3793, 3803, 3822.
Back-ache, 1063, 1065.
Backward, 430, 438, 488, 518, 519, 536, 563, 700, 997, 1208, 1211,
1235, 1363, 1481, 1529, 1530, 1601, 1690, 1697, 1710, 1783,
3013, 3217, 3865, 3870.
Bacon, 1098, 1432, 1433.
Bad Luck, 28, 29, 46, 49, 58, 60, 68, 101, 163, 164, 171, 185, 400-
402, 618, 620, 624, 628, 633, 635-639, 643-651, 654, 657-660,
667-669, 671-677, 679, 680, 682-685, 689, 691, 699, 701-704, 710,
713, 743, 753, 754, 757-759, 761, 763, 765, 767, 768, 770, 772,
773, 776, 821, 822, 825, 830-834, 856, 871, 877, 927, 956, 985-
987, 989-991, 996, 997, 999, 1022, 1023, 1029, 1041, 1550, 1552,
1560, 1571, 1579, 1584, 1586-1589, 1591, 1594, 1600, 1601,
1603-1607, 1613, 1616-1618, 1620, 1621, 1623, 1638, 1639, 1641,
1650, 1656, 1657, 1661-1665, 1674, 1678-1680, 1685-1700, 1707-
1709, 1716, 1721-1728, 1742, 1744-1746, 1748, 1752, 1754-1756,
1761, 1762, 1776, 1778-1780, 1790-1792, 1796, 1809, 1815, 1818-
1820, 1831, 1834, 1835, 1844, 1865, 1871, 1872, 1878, 1881-
1883, 1908, 1910, 1913, 1917, 1920, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1936,
1938-1940, 1946, 1951, 1954, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1973,
1976, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1990, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2015,
294
INDEX
2023, 2032, 2035, 2036, 2041, 2042, 2052, 2055-2057, 2061, 2062,
2066, 2071, 2075, 2077, 2088, 2094-2096, 2103, 2105, 2107, 2109,
2110, 2112, 2115, 2117, 2122-2126, 2129, 2133, 2135, 2136,
2138-2141, 2150, 2151, 2153, 2163, 2166, 2173, 2174, 2179,
2181, 2182, 2185, 2186, 2190-2192, 2206, 2208, 2211, 2212,
2214, 2215, 2217, 2218, 2221, 2223, 2225, 2231, 2291, 2299,
2306, 2317, 2368, 2606, 2706, 2709, 2719, 2723, 2725, 2727,
2729, 2734, 2735, 2737, 2741, 2744, 2751-2754, 2756, 2757,
2766-2770, 2772, 2773, 2775, 2776, 2782, 2783, 2787, 2790,
2797, 2802, 2807, 2812, 2813, 2834, 2841, 2846, 2855, 2860,
2863, 2873, 2874, 2891, 2899, 2931, 2933, 2942, 2943, 2962-
2967, 2980-2984, 2992, 2994, 2996, 3010, 3031, 3032, 3034,
3035, 3041,, 3047, 3050-3057, 3059, 3061, 3068-3071, 3075,
3076, 3082, 3084, 3095, 3098, 3102, 3109, 3110, 3114, 3117-
3119, 3123, 3126-3128, 3136, 3145, 3153, 3156-3160, 3163, 3167-
3171, 3178, 3183, 3194, 3198, 3199, 3201-3204, 3209, 3210, 3219,
3222, 3223, 3228, 3229, 3234, 3237, 3250-3256, 3261, 3264,
3265, 3268, 3269, 3271-3275, 3277, 3281, 3283-3285, 3288, 3291,
3293, 3294, 3298, 3300, 3308, 3321, 3328, 3339, 3348, 3358,
3361-3365, 3392, 3403, 3406, 3407, 3415, 3421, 3422, 3434,
3435, 3445, 3452, 3457, 3459-3461, 3464, 3465, 3473, 3476.
3477, 3484, 3487, 3490, 3496, 3509, 3515-3517, 3525, 3527,
3535, 3545, 3548-3550, 3587, 3592, 3593, 3598-3600, 3605,
3606, 3610, 3619, 3629, 3634, 3635, 3639, 3647, 3654, 3658,
3662, 3666, 3673, 3679, 3683, 3698, 3709, 3721, 3723, 3728,
3731, 3750, 3755, 3767, 3857, 3883-3889, 3891, 3894, 3899,
3900, 3902, 3903, 3907-3911, 3924, 3949, 3950.
Baking, 353, 1848, 1849, 1853-1857, 1906, 2776, 3547.
Bald, 2300, 3337.
Barometer, 2329, 2330, 2525, 2679, 2680.
Baseball, 3152-3181.
Bat, 660.
Bay Horse, 1960.
Beans, 216, 1436, 1437-1440, 2237, 2253, 2254, 2688, 2794, 2879-
2885, 2936.
Beard, 3314.
Beau, 403, 532, 533, 585, 966, 1044, 2957, 3743.
295
INDEX
Beauty, 37, 471, 1826, 2243, 2817, 2890, 3528-3531, 3925, 3926.
Bed, 31, 67, 74, 174, 219, 220, 221, 222, 226, 455, 456, 518,
519, 536, 700, 706, 724, 968, 1079, 1144, 1157, 1163, 1167,
1199, 1208, 1281, 1282, 1318, 1551, 1607, 1612, 1627, 1701,
1703, 1706-1723, 1750, 1826, 1903, 2096, 2149-2151, 2153, 2191,
2308, 2358, 2482, 2542 (hog), 2556, 2691, 2855, 2871 (room),
3684, 3739, 3740, 3805.
Bed Post, 217, 218, 1219, 3520.
Beech-nut, 2696, 3394.
Bees, 1066, 1907, 2850, 3663-3669.
Bell, 811, 3126, 3668, 3909.
Bess-bug, 1175.
Bible, 5, 42, 195, 225, 226, 1078, 1096, 3702, 3826, 3914.
Billikens, 3901.
Bird, 142, 232, 233, 412, 549, 1908, 2331-2335, 2396, 2762, 3206,
3509-3659.
Bird-Dog, 3370.
Birthday, 67, 96, 246, 247, 2854-2856.
Birth Flower, 2851.
Birth-mark, 1067.
Birth Stone, 2055, 2056, 2852, 2853.
Biscuit, 229-231, 1804, 1830, 1832, 1833, 1836, 1841.
Bite, 853, 855, 957, 1171, 1172, 1340-1345 (snake), 2250 (frost),
2292, 3112, 3113, 3184 (fish), 3185, 3186, 3197, 3385, 3672,
3677, 3729, 3763.
Black, 252, 253, 629, 640, 762, 908, 1120, 1183, 1332, 1333, 1334,
1353, 1382, 1383, 1442, 1443, 1513, 1531, 1547, 1915, 1917,
1960, 2122-2125, 2142, 2640, 2641, 2991, 3175, 3268-3275, 3277-
3280, 3287, 3291, 3292, 3375, 3604, 3665, 3685, 3720, 3721,
3750, 3751, 3780, 3806, 3930.
Blackberries, 2436.
Blackberry Winter, 2432.
Blackbird, 143, 238, 3527.
Black Cat, 252, 253, 762, 1183, 1332, 1333, 1353, 1442, 1443, 1915,
3268-3273, 3275, 3277-3280, 3287, 3291, 3292, 3780, 3806.
Bleed, 451, 745, 1080-1083, 1086, 1087, 1089, 1091-1093, 1095, 1393,
1451, 1454, 1455, 1458, 1485, 1496, 1508, 2836.
296
INDEX
Blindness, 1068, 1670, 1910, 3414, 3717.
Blister, 848, 854, 1200, 1201.
Blonde, 904, 906.
Blood, 234, 671, 672, 959, 979, 1070-1096, 1175, 1176, 1183, 1240,
1332, 1334, 1370, 1398, 1437, 1438, 1443, 1444, 1452, 1454,
1455, 1458, 1485, 1490, 1491, 1496, 1682, 1911, 2699, 3182,
3320, 3377, 3499, 3500, 3773, 3864.
Blood-poisoning, 1098, 1099, 2829.
Blossom, 409, 666, 2237, 2906, 2969, 3003.
Blue, 194, 278, 629, 630, 634, 661, 2631, 2914, 3111, 3112, 3846.
Bluebird, 130, 2334, 2762 (jay).
Boasting, 2973, 3900.
Bob-white, 2335, 3628.
Body, 734, 737, 738, 740, 746, 772, 779, 1060, 1199, 1218, 1257,
1542, 2285, 2712, 3379, 3714, 3761.
Boil, 976, 1097, 1100-1104, 3611.
Bones, 1182, 1278, 1307 (hand), 1315, 1441, 1552, 1676, 1896, 3243,
3696.
Bone-felon, 1105, 1106.
Borrowing, 661, 1036, 1386, 1670, 1757, 1807, 1808, 3024, 3261,
3832, 3834, 3837.
Boy, 88, 100, 248, 356, 367, 372, 408, 435, 455, 458, 459, 464,
492, 497, 508, 510, 511, 512, 547, 556, 809, 2093, 3041, 3227.
Brains, 82, 905, 1383, 1387, 1393, 1394.
Brass, 1162, 1297, 1298, 1368, 1444, 2037, 3441.
Bread, 235-237, 263, 1678, 1828-1852, 1884, 2919, 3044, 3828.
Bread Crumbs, 458, 2927.
Breakfast, 427, 539, 1040, 1043, 1044, 1045, 1047, 1048, 1886, 1887.
1892-1894, 2386, 2607, 2705, 3561, 3562, 3613.
Breast, 1020, 1240, 3602, 3603.
Breastbone, 612, 2530-2532.
Breath, 1112, 1136, 1234, 1369, 3289, 3310, 3880.
Briar, 533, 535, 1115, 2255.
Bride, 368, 606-607, 634, 635, 637-644, 646, 647, 651, 654, 655, 657,
658, 661-664, 666, 667-675, 690-692, 694-697, 701, 703, 704,
707, 2146, 2223, 3753, 3754.
Bridegroom, 638, 657, 658, 665, 694, 702, 2223.
297
INDEX
Bridesmaid, 700.
Bridle, 427, 3795, 3819.
British Lady, 238.
Bronchitis, 1126.
Broom, 239, 240, 565, 566, 1285, 1522, 1524, 1588-1628, 1722, 2014.
2770, 3825, 3837.
Brother, 1912, 2216, 2326.
Brown, 629, 904, 907, 1223, 1421, 2352.
Buckeye, See Horse-chestnut.
Buggy-riding, 403, 2029.
Bullet, 734, 2177, 3471, 3775, 3829, 3832, 3881.
"Bullrock," 3551.
Bumble-bee, 1300.
Burdock Root, 1384.
Burn, 235, 237, 331, 332, 345, 348, 413, 415, 544, 567, 785, 799-805,
1007, 1106, 1108-1113, 1147, 1554, 1555, 1572, 1735, 1781,
1805, 1806, 1819, 1838-1843, 1853, 1855, 1871, 2119, 2160,
2337, 2693, 2711, 2712, 2737, 2770, 2907, 2908, 2931, 2980,
2992, 2993, 2994, 3037, 3078, 3522, 3641, 3686, 3699, 3792,
3811, 3844, 3877.
Burning, 544, 807, 808, 1221, 1557, 1558, 1559, 1829, 2036.
Bury, 367, 468, 772, 774, 778, 779, 781, 880, 981, 1007, 1059, 1076,
1194, 1214, 1251, 1340, 1354, 1399, 1409, 1430, 1433, 1434,
1437, 1441, 1444, 1447, 1462, 1470, 1472, 1474, 1479, 1492,
1518, 1523, 1524, 1527, 1532, 1533, 1539, 1676, 1703, 2176,
2178, 3079, 3369, 3370, 3504, 3761, 3844, 3863, 3893.
Bush, 410, 532, 1034, 1154, 1530, 2275.
Business, 1001, 2760, 2858.
Butter, 241, 1245, 1671, 1672, 1852, 3044, 3111, 3335-3337, 3791,
3795-3801.
Butter-beans, 2254, 2886.
Butterfly, 242, 290, 1141, 2339, 2488, 3670-3675.
Buttermilk, 1204, 2375, 2987.
Buttons, 243, 693, 2064-2071, 2141.
Buzzard (turkey-buzzard), 139, 591, 592, 3650-3652.
298
INDEX
Cabbage, 1365, 1804, 2237, 2256, 2257, 2793, 2922.
Cake, 241, 244, 246, 263, 693, 1258, 1837, 1846, 1853-1858, 2776.
Calendar, 1685.
Calf, 1635, 1660, 2277-2279, 2281, 2340, 2773, 3331, 3334.
Camphor, 2341-2343.
Cancer, 1114, 1115.
Candle, 245-247, 396, 1735-1741.
Candy, 1435, 2344, 3887.
Canebrush, 2217, 2326.
Cap, 248, 508, 2093, 3217, 3273.
Car, 166, 765, 2223, 3064-3067, 3069-3071, 3073, 3074, 3121, 3126.
3301.
Carbon, 1301.
Carbuncles, 1116, 3611.
Cards, 42, 249, 250, 1628, 3229-3261 (luck).
Cat, 144, 251-253, 478, 479, 480, 686, 762, 1117, 1183, 1332, 1333,
1353, 1442, 1443, 1584, 1913, 1914, 1915, 2346-2351, 3228,
3268-3317, 3384, 3780, 3806.
Caterpillar, 2352, 3768.
Catfish, 3187.
Cattle, 1251, 1487, 3318, 3319, 3388.
Caul, 12.
Cedar, 254, 2975-2980.
Ceiling, 207, 1386, 3755, 3756, 3841.
Cellar, 255, 380.
Cemetery, See Graveyard.
Chair, 239, 256-259, 400, 1630-1642, 3231, 3233, 3234.
Champagne, 3884.
Change of Garments, 185, 1257, 2114-2118.
Charcoal, 260, 1077.
Charm, 516, 614, 910, 1018, 1030, 1113, 1430, 1520, 3122, 3798, 3804,
3831-3833, 3834, 3837, 3853, 3855.
Cheek, 261, 1001.
Chest, 1290, 1420.
Chestnut, 262, 2826.
299
INDEX
Chicken, 275, 295, 612, 613, 1119, 1120, 1124, 1170, 1183, 1264,
1290, 1334, 1342, 1370, 1423, 1449, 1451, 1454, 1455, 2353-
2367, 2697, 2755, 2789, 2795, 2808, 2809, 2818, 3206, 3242, 3438-
3441, 3443, 3528-3606, 3785, 3845, 3851, 3936, 3937.
Chicken Gizzards, 1247, 1426, 1446, 2359, 2360, 3530, 3531.
Chickenpox, 1120, 1121.
Chiggers, 3676.
Child, 1-104, 211, 302, 362, 688, 786, 894, 1061, 1122, 1143, 1192,
1240, 1263, 1369, 1371, 1373, 1374, 1375, 1377, 1380, 1388,
1389, 1391, 1551, 1769, 1916, 1996, 2137, 2700, 2701, 2842,
3226, 3310, 3699, 3702, 3864. Also see Baby.
Child-birth, 1-10, 1123.
Chills, 1124, 3768.
Chimney, 1072, 1258 (piece), 1260, 1580, 1748 (lamp), 1750, 2368,
2369, 3553.
Chin, 844, 845, 1672.
Cholera, 1125.
Christ, 357, 2178, 2838.
Christening, 20, 3884.
Christmas, 19, 2391, 2403, 2450, 2451, 2452, 2830-2835, 2841, 3592.
Christmas Eve, 2836-2839.
Church, 821, 660, 690, 2821, 3025, 3070, 3778.
Churn, 1670, 3111, 3336, 3337, 3795, 3798-3801.
Cigarette, 3916.
Circles, 944, 945, 1328, 2576, 2578, 2581, 2582, 3687, 3823.
Clock, 681, 682, 744, 1643-1648, 2168, 3139, 8480.
Clothes, 50, 272, 327, 441, 524, 597, 667, 707, 711, 1250, 1257, 1417,
1656, 2034, 2110, 2113, 2114, 2117, 2118, 2310, 2710, 2816,
2881, 3005, 3061, 3360, 3476-3478, 3507, 3580, 3674, 3680, 3745,
3815. See also Garment.
Clouds, 1917, 2214, 2219, 2370-2376, 2455, 2456, 2462, 2463, 2471,
2485, 2627, 2634, 3120.
Clover, 158, 159, 266-270, 416, 661, 693, 1104, 2813, 2892-2899.
Club feet, 1192.
Clubs, 249.
Coal, 1557, 1558, 1559, 2090, 3094-3110, 3708, 3912.
Coat, 1530, 2025, 3036, 3822.
300
INDEX
Cobs, 2907, 2908.
Cobweb, 1071, 2377, 3757.
Cock, See Rooster.
Coffee, 263, 264, 265, 313, 549, 562, 1447, 1871-1879.
Coffin, 265, 421, 425, 428, 478, 750, 752, 753, 1918-1920, 2977.
Coin, 38, 39, 693, 1976, 3014, 3020, 3804.
Colds, 1126-1137, 1150, 1200 (blister), 1201,
Colic, 79, 1138, 1139.
Color, 271, 279, 285, 305, 365, 372, 438, 440, 441, 483, 486, 488,
489, 505, 507, 511, 512, 524, 634, 2339, 2930, 2966, 3111-3121,
3505, 3670, 3672, 3758.
Colt, 2277, 2280-2282, 2294, 2815.
Comb, 190, 191, 370, 870-879, 1228, 1921, 2072-2079, 2208, 2727,
2761.
Combings, 370, 880, 881.
Comet, 3943.
Communion, 292.
Companion, 906, 3042-3049.
Conjures, 1140, 1457 (verb), 3812, 3848, 3857.
Consumption, 1141-1148, 1151.
Cook, 1242 (verb), 1797, 1802, 1830 (noun), 1839, 1840, 2794, 3443.
Corn, 157, 276, 293, 294, 295, 1087, 1088, 1149 (on foot), 1152,
1153, 1154, 1191, 1225 (meal), 1323, 1449-1455, 2241, 2258,
2259, 2378-2382, 2438, 2900-2921, 3789.
Cornbread, 296, 391, 2920, 2927.
Corn-husking, 2914.
Cornsilk, 2915, 2916, 2918.
Cotton, 2923, 2924.
Cow, 106, 549, 1146, 1147, 1155, 1156, 1243, 1667-1672, 2278, 2279,
2383, 2733, 2838, 3320-3337, 3498-3500, 3694, 3695, 3720, 3722,
3782, 3790-3804.
Coward, 135, 939, 3386.
Cramp, 1059, 1157-1163, 1167.
Crap Game, 3135.
Crawfish, 1450, 2384, 3678.
Crazy Bone, 972.
Cream, 3314.
301
INDEX
Cream Puffs, 1906.
Creek, 1130, 1667.
Crick, 1164 (in neck), 1168.
Cricket, 3679-3684.
Crops, 2210, 2248, 2398, 2399, 2425, 2438, 2526, 2537, 2598, 2599,
2866-3013, 3607.
Cross, 344, 357, 625, 758, 762, 832, 924, 1003, 1032, 1100, 1189,
1259, 1260, 1331, 1458, 1459, 1542, 1600, 1718, 1776, 1882,
2217, 2638, 2736, 2836, 3051, 3057, 3152, 3153, 3202, 3205, 3210,
3223, 3268, 3270-3272, 3274-3276, 3459-3465, 3489, 3490, 3625,
3638, 3639, 3814, 3879, 3880, 3892, 3924.
Cross-eyed, 830-834, 3181, 3468, 3473.
Cross-roads, 1361, 1362, 1363, 1459, 1491.
Croup, 1126, 1158, 1165, 1166.
Crow, 131, 2385, 2387, 2909.
Crowing, 2358, 2361-2367, 2616, 3558, 3559, 3561-3572, 3574-3578,
3583-3593, 3595-3598.
Cry, 314, 822, 825, 1043, 1283, 1714, 1715, 1874, 1886, 1922, 1949,
2278, 2280, 2385, 2499, 2539, 2568, 2603-2605, 2609, 2642,
2824, 3226, 3607, 3629.
Cucumbers, 593, 2247, 2260, 2925-2927.
Cud, 1156, 3329.
Cumberland River, 3921.
Cup, 333, 341, 545, 574, 576, 1672, 1874, 1877-1879.
Cures, 1059-1550, 3379, 3793, 3835, 3855.
Curl, 299, 363, 901, 1828, 1829, 2540.
Cursing, 103, 3197, 3773-3775, 3934.
Cut, 733, 841, 868, 892, 893, 958, 968, 1069, 1072, 1074, 1076, 1077,
1119, 1148, 1152, 1175, 1240, 1241, 1243, 1286, 1332, 1333,
1386 (teeth), 1390, 1393, 1402, 1406, 1407, 1416, 1423, 1450,
1458, 1466, 1476, 1490, 1491, 1493, 1494, 1510, 1517, 1523,
1526, 1577, 1863, 2255, 2267-2269, 2275, 2300, 2304, 2316, 2702-
2710, 2774, 2778, 2798-2801 (hair), 2821, 2829, 3237 (cards),
3257, 3291, 3367, 3369, 3380, 3476, 3681, 3716, 3761, 3804, 3839.
302
INDEX
D
Daddy-Long-Legs, 106, 3694, 3695.
Daisy, 300, 2851.
Dance, 301, 699, 1003, 2538, 2671, 2932, 3702.
Dandelion, 86, 87, 302-304, 1460, 2865, 2928.
Danger, 1037, 2059, 2689, 2690, 2816, 3043, 3347, 3727, 3846.
Dark-haired, 904, 1843, 3721.
Daughter, 99, 436, 1375, 3130, 3279.
Day, 87, 114, 281, 420, 422, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 441, 473,
475, 503, 529, 537, 575, 625-627, 644, 647, 650, 651-653, 655,
657, 698, 701, 762, 781, 834, 930, 1038, 1044, 1146, 1148, 1203,
1208, 1212, 1231, 1296, 1369, 1379, 1433, 1434, 1437, 1493,
1504, 1631, 1677, 1800, 1858, 1860, 1861, 1948, 2023, 2025,
2029, 2030, 2085, 2183, 2234, 2264, 2334, 2338, 2339, 2357,
2361, 2371, 2383, 2385, 2388-2390, 2392, 2393, 2400, 2401,
2403, 2405, 2406, 2408, 2410, 2412, 2418, 2424, 2430, 2431,
2435, 2439, 2440, 2442, 2445, 2454, 2457, 2461, 2462, 2465,
2477, 2479, 2485, 2486, 2488, 2515, 2521, 2538, 2557, 2567,
2577-2581, 2592, 2596, 2615, 2616, 2627, 2629, 2647, 2648, 2652-
2654, 2657, 2658, 2678, 2681, 2696, 2699, 2700-2865, 2866, 2867,
2871, 2905, 3006, 3025, 3039, 3060, 3099, 3137, 3172, 3181,
3200, 3218, 3219, 3222, 3301, 3444, 3462, 3473, 3543, 3558,
3564, 3578, 3607, 3689, 3715, 3774, 3797, 3803, 3833, 3947.
Days and Seasons, 2700-2865.
Dealing (cards), 3236, 3237, 3244, 3250, 3256-3259.
Death, 77, 80, 164, 265, 289, 305, 313, 316, 365, 412, 421, 425,
428, 478, 524, 636, 676, 685, 706, 708-782, 811, 874-876, 878,
882, 889, 958, 973, 980, 998, 1028, 1040, 1047-1050, 1059, 1067.
1152, 1180, 1218, 1328, 1352, 1461, 1471, 1545, 1565, 1568,
1572, 1574-1577, 1581, 1612, 1622, 1635, 1640, 1643-1647, 1649,
1651, 1652, 1658-1660, 1666, 1681, 1682, 1703, 1704, 1729, 1735,
1738, 1743, 1747, 1750, 1764, 1824, 1877, 1888, 1904, 1905,
1912, 1918-1921, 1927, 1928, 1953, 1956, 1964, 1966, 1967,
1971, 1981, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2013, 2015, 2016,
2020, 2022, 2024, 2078, 2103, 2119, 2120, 2136, 2165, 2167-
2169, 2171, 2172, 2175, 2184, 2188, 2189, 2191, 2193, 2194,
303
INDEX
2196, 2216, 2249, 2268, 2273, 2280, 2491, 2612, 2699, 2712,
2724, 2779, 2812, 2818, 2823, 2854, 2870, 2872, 2878, 2886",
2910, 2911, 2915, 2916, 2955, 2956, 2968, 2976-2979, 2988,
2990, 2991, 2993, 3086, 3073, 3097, 3099, 3100, 3113, 3138-3142.
3148, 3226, 3228, 3229, 3243, 3264, 3282, 3306, 3307, 3309,
3310, 3316, 3319, 3320, 3322-3327, 3331, 3340, 3342-3352, 3355,
3357, 3360, 3390, 3396, 3403, 3418, 3455, 3456, 3458, 3467 ;
3475, 3477, 3480, 3497, 3512, 3518-3521, 3567, 3568, 3588.
3597-3603, 3606, 3608, 3609, 3612, 3613, 3617, 3618, 3620,
3630, 3632, 3633, 3651, 3653, 3656, 3657, 3665, 3667, 3669,
3692, 3707-3710, 3760, 3762, 3769, 3771, 3772, 3865, 3869,
3870, 3872, 3873, 3882, 3895, 3896, 3906.
December, 617, 2392, 2449, 2533, 2842, 2847, 2851, 2852.
Deer, 1173, 3784.
Derby, 3414.
Devil, 802, 872, 930, 931, 1003, 1035, 1036, 1037, 1461, 1711, 1794,
1816, 1838, 2187, 2694, 2703, 2762, 3002, 3287, 3426, 3773,
3774, 3776, 3946.
Dew, 1205, 1207, 1208, 1212, 2492, 2493-2495, 2810, 2817.
Dewberry, 1115.
Dew-claws, 3378.
Diamonds, 249, 508, 509, 1229, 2852.
Diarrhoea, 1169.
Dice, 3260.
Dimple, 844, 845.
Diphtheria, 1170.
Dish, 227, 228, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1831, 2012, 3705.
Dish Cloth, 197, 306, 1156, 1354, 1399, 1462, 1463, 1527, 1782-
1792, 1899.
Dish Water, 307, 1122, 1190, 1794.
Divinations concerning Love, 200-615.
Divining Rod, 3954.
Doctor, see Physician.
Dog, 273, 308, 858, 1117, 1142, 1171, 1172, 1173, 1201, 1303,
1341, 1348, 1464, 2196, 2439 (days), 2496, 2497, 2824, 2825
(days), 3103, 3177, 3204, 3297, 3338-3386, 3480, 3784, 3870,
3871.
304
INDEX
Dog-eater, 3871.
Dogwood, 1115, 1398, 2433, 2454, 2901, 2981-2988, 3185.
Dogwood Winter, 2433, 2454.
Domestic Life, 1574-1888.
Doodle-bug, 3685, 3686.
Door, 149, 309, 436, 437, 462, 463, 478, 703, 728, 754, 1271, 1333,
1577, 1592, 1604, 1605, 1609, 1616, 1617, 1622, 1653, 1654,
1659, 1666, 1680, 1689, 1690, 1692-1696, 1704, 2842, 3804,
3324, 3355, 3529, 3558-3560, 3563, 3564, 3567, 3568, 3571,
3572, 3576, 3581, 3597, 3620, 3643, 3742, 8794, 3824, 3828,
3837, 3862, 3902, 3903.
Doorstep, 563, 896, 1095, 3367, 3368, 3369, 3370, 3438, 3785.
Doorway, 1619, 1691, 3345, 3738, 3878.
Dragon-fly, 3727-3729.
Dream, 255, 312-326, 433, 434, 439, 518, 519, 523, 524, 536, 552,
553, 555, 557, 594, 602, 603, 637, 736, 872, 1710, 1794, 1822,
1823, 1889-2022, 2149, 2232, 2501, 2502, 3080, 3379-3383, 3703.
Dress, 47, 48, 49, 327-329, 368, 476, 477, 534, 547, 642, 658, 671.
672, 1566, 1956, 2023-2162, 2220, 2716, 2928, 2930, 3622, 3670,
3672, 3744, 3770.
Drinking, 518, 599, 1103, 1133, 1146, 1147, 1148, 1198, 1219, 1236,
1240, 1247, 1262, 1264, 1265, 1312, 1323, 1337, 1376, 1378,
1867, 1868, 1874, 1875, 1877, 2198, 2386, 2845, 3215, 3400,
3854.
Drunkard, 327, 553.
Duck, 330, 2503, 2504, 2698, 3614.
E
Ear, 21, 331, 332, 402, 799, 800-817, 1013, 1014, 1090, 1175-1179.
1185, 1200, 1237, 2351, 2694, 2902, 2914, 2918, 3069, 3405,
3474.
Earache, 1175-1179.
Ear-rings, 1068, 1185.
East, 419, 779, 1115, 1197, 1366, 1702, 2488, 2562, 2614, 2675,
2678, 2684, 2686, 2687, 2696, 3184.
Easter, 2425-2429, 2805-2807, 2832.
Eat, 465, 469, 497, 540, 558, 563, 1046, 1097, 1142, 1258, 1312,
305
INDEX
1435, 1805, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1825, 1826-1829, 1863, 1864,
1865, 1931, 2012, 2260, 2502, 2567, 2741, 2793, 2888-2891, 2912,
2920, 2948, 2951, 3089, 3478, 3507, 3528-3530, 3628, 3680,
3690, 3794, 3870, 3936.
Eclipse, 2658.
Eel, 1304 (skin), 3687.
Egg, 233, 333, 334, 1139, 1264, 1386, 1465, 1799, 1932-1938, 2413,
2698, 2717, 2734, 2763, 2818, 3525, 3536-3541, 3545, 3785.
Egg-shell, 1385, 1555, 1853-1855, 3541, 3546-3549, 3811.
Eight, 1519, 2361, 2857, 2858, 3133, 3326.
Eighteen, 182, 485, 2679.
Elbow, 970, 971.
Elder, 1169, 1305, 1427, 1671, 2840.
Eleven, 459, 484, 1042, 2415, 2474, 2475, 3135, 3806.
Ember Day, 2821-2823.
Enemy, 14, 88, 265, 895, 966, 986, 1934, 1987, 2006, 2007, 2176,
2177, 2178, 2820, 3022, 3712, 3713, 3752.
Epilepsy, 1181, 1182.
Erysipelas, 1183, 1184.
Evil Eye, 842, 843.
Eyes, 110, 115, 208, 253, 335, 336, 440, 483, 524, 732, 818-829, 842,
843, 909, 1134, 1185, 1186-1188, 1355, 1358, 1361, 1497, 1939,
3108, 3109, 3200, 3399, 3809, 3931.
Eyebrows, 835-841.
Eyelash, 175, 176, 337, 338, 841.
Ezekiel, XVI Chapter, 6th verse 1078, 1096.
Face, 209, 224, 260, 296, 420, 679, 779, 783-785, 1009, 1010, 1180,
1203, 1204, 1205, 1207, 1208, 1209, 1369, 1380, 1821, 2178,
2193, 2201, 2351, 2700, 2769, 2817, 3303-3305, 3314, 3356,
3693, 3733, 3738, 3827.
Fairies, 227, 357, 2932.
Family, 98, 105, 351, 452, 551, 607, 669, 686, 709, 713, 714,
725, 727, 728, 746-748, 755, 760, 762, 775, 776, 787, 811, 973,
1048, 1070, 1424, 1555, 1562, 1573-1577, 1581, 1622, 1640, 1644-
306
INDEX
1647, 1649, 1659, 1666, 1729, 1743, 1750, 1770, 1772, 1824,
1849, 1912, 1918, 1972, 1997, 2013, 2078, 2167, 2169, 2175,
2222, 2792, 2812, 2870, 2872, 2910, 2911, 2956, 2978, 2979,
2988, 2991, 3280, 3288, 3307, 3319, 3320, 3326, 3331, 3340,
3355, 3360, 3418, 3467, 3497, 3519, 3520, 3559, 3560, 3571,
3572, 3588, 3593, 3597, 3608, 3621, 3633, 3764, 3832, 3837,
3867, 3890.
Father, 99, 1112, 1369, 1507, 2091, 3613.
Feather, 340, 659, 897, 898, 1120, 1717-1719, 2295, 2354, 2355, 3526,
3594, 3601-3603, 3630, 3851.
Feather Bed, 2691, 2735.
February, 2392, 2408-2416, 2847, 2851, 2852, 2945, 2958, 2959.
Feet, 50, 778, 996, 997, 1003, 1006, 1127, 1157, 1163, 1190, 1191,
1193-1197, 1346, 1404, 1611, 1613-1615, 2290, 2304, 2505, 2506,
2726, 3411, 3412, 3488, 3528, 3711, 3771, 3774, 3921.
Fever, 848, 1155, 1198, 1199, 1200 (blister), 1201, 1423-1425, 2953,
3765-3767 (worm).
Fifteen, 1241, 2399, 2400, 2430, 2445, 2828, 2965.
Fifty, 3419, 3448.
Filipino, 160.
Filly, 3414.
Finger, 147, 181, 192, 193, 224, 234, 338, 342, 343, 344, 363, 364,
802, 831, 832, 843, 936-954, 956, 961, 966, 1059, 1089, 1105,
1189, 1259, 1298, 1300, 1328, 1329, 1331, 1483, 1515, 1534,
1542, 1682, 2035, 2061, 2244, 2299, 2952, 3009, 3265, 3274,
3363, 3422, 3648, 3819, 3879, 3880, 3914, 3924.
Finger-nails, 51-54, 443-449, 957-968, 1406, 1407, 1466, 2298, 2299,
2702-2710, 2778.
Finger Prints, 944, 945.
Fire, 334, 345-350, 393, 563, 881, 882, 1073, 1108, 1110, 1111-1113,
1184, 1374, 1540, 1550-1573, 1618, 1705, 1805, 1806, 1807,
1838, 1941-1944, 2121, 2226, 2324, 2346-2348, 2507-2510, 2908,
3110, 3134, 3302, 3346, 3438, 3552, 3556, 3557, 3591, 3686,
3690, 3699, 3793, 3807, 3858, 3926.
Fire-fly, 3688-3690.
Fire-place, 1557, 1558, 1559, 1560, 1570, 2833, 3440, 3837.
Fish, 352, 417, 1390, 1467, 1676, 1945, 2162, 2290-2292, 2323, 2511,
307
INDEX
2549, 2719, 2767, 3696, 3729.
Fishing, 352, 4-17, 3184-3205, 3691, 3729.
Fishing-bait, 853, 1296, 3188, 3189, 3199, 3691.
Five, 209, 409, 600, 1435, 1677, 1678, 1877, 2478, 2658, 2897, 2898,
3040, 3212.
Flint, 3553.
Flirt, 1867.
Flower, 291, 354, 355, 356, 1946, 2243, 2244, 2261, 2513, 2851, 2856,
Fly (noun), 2512, 2834, 2850, 3002, 3692, 3693.
Flying, 1947, 1948, 2355, 2503, 2504, 2535, 2536, 2619, 2620, 2646,
3493, 3514, 3515, 3516, 3517, 3518, 3520, 3523, 3527, 3608.
3615, 3632, 3635-3637, 3643, 3650, 3651, 3660, 3663, 3693,
3699, 3704, 3764.
Fog, 2406, 2447, 2448, 2453, 2514-2518.
Fool, 795, 887, 1774, 1999, 3944, 3953.
Foot, 92, 171, 191, 260, 361, 752, 981-988, 999-1001, 1060, 1128,
1149, 1166, 1189, 1244, 1252, 1263, 1270-1274, 1423, 1429.
1481, 1627, 1634, 1903, 2075, 2129, 2133, 2743, 2829, 3034,
3411, 3412, 3469-3473 (rabbits), 3529, 3821, 3845, 3861, 3918.
Football, 3182.
Forehead, 205, 786, 839, 910, 1201, 1226.
Fork, 358-360, 1764, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1774, 1776, 1872, 3791.
Fortunes, see Divination concerning Love.
Forty, 284, 2234, 2416, 2424, 2439, 2442, 2445, 2681, 2825.
Forty-eight, 2668, 2681.
Four, 382, 383, 924, 951, 952, 1146, 1227, 1624, 2389, 2442, 2443 ;
2771, 2826, 2827, 2925, 3009, 3258, 3259, 3311, 3412, 3845.
Four-leaved Clover, 661, 693, 2813, 2894-2896.
Fourteenth of February, 2859, 2945, 2958.
Freckles, 1203-1212.
Freight-train, 165, 3074.
Friday, 536, 625, 1035, 1139, 1406, 1810, 1893, 1894, 2257, 2465-
2472, 2700, 2702, 2703, 2707, 2753, 2754, 2762-2772, 2805,
3472, 3473.
Frog, 1802, 2489, 2520, 2521.
Frost, 1111, 1112, 2250, 2257, 2339, 2398, 2399, 2406, 2407, 2410-
2412, 2421, 2422, 2522-2527, 2557, 2587, 2688, 2885.
308
INDEX
Frostbite, 1193-1197, 2506, 3213.
Fruit, 594, 1950, 1951, 1952, 2237, 2262, 2264, 2315, 2325, 2399,
2421, 2513, 2526, 2572, 2835, 2970-2972.
Funeral, 80, 289, 524, 708, 754, 757-764, 777, 782, 1059, 1764, 1953,
2168, 2916, 3348, 3606, 3692.
Fur, 678, 1195, 2327, 3296.
Furniture, 75, 1626-1651.
G
Garment, 185, 579, 1355, 1565, 2043, 2071, 2103-2105, 2107, 2111,
2112, 2115, 2116, 2119, 2774, 3476, 3507. See also Clothes.
Garter, 607, 2130, 2131.
Ghost, 3289, 3405, 3493, 3859-3882.
Gift, 3888, 3904.
Ginseng, 1249.
Glass, 458, 504, 756, 1695, 1867, 1869, 1870, 2175, 2221, 2489, 3334,
3803.
Goat, 1251, 3216, 3387-3389.
God, 506, 3773-3775, 3929, 3934.
Goitre, 1214-1218.
Gold, 117, 333, 504, 691, 859, 861, 942, 1216, 1355, 1468, 2695,
3416, 3526, 3916.
Good Luck, 20, 30, 97, 99, 100, 115, 357, 386, 619, 621, 626, 630,
634, 641, 646, 652, 653, 655, 656, 661-666, 670, 678, 681, 686-
688, 695-697, 771, 823, 863, 864, 867, 892, 988, 1000, 1001,
1021, 1032, 1045, 1578, 1580, 1582, 1583, 1585, 1590, 1592,
1602, 1608, 1636, 1676, 1730, 1751, 1753, 1845, 1907, 1916,
1929, 1937, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1957, 1960,
1962, 1963, 1975, 1977-1979, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2025, 2026,
2037, 2040, 2054, 2060, 2063, 2064, 2070, 2074, 2075, 2080,
2087, 2093, 2113, 2114, 2116, 2118, 2128, 2130, 2131, 2159,
2203, 2207, 2213, 2219, 2224, 2233, 2298, 2704, 2709, 2713,
2714, 2716, 2730, 2745, 2749, 2755, 2758-2760, 2764, 2765,
2784-2786, 2796, 2805, 2830, 2853, 2856, 2857, 2858, 2861.
2882, 2887, 2894, 2897, 2898, 2934, 2935, 2938-2940, 2945, 2970,
2975, 3002, 3013, 3014, 3017-3021, 3023, 3024, 3028, 3038,
3039, 3041, 3048, 3064-3067, 3078, 3079, 3096, 3107, 3108,
309
INDEX
3116, 3121, 3122, 3129, 3130, 3133-3135, 3137, 3162, 3172,
3173, 3176, 3177, 3188, 3207, 3208, 3216, 3218, 3221, 3225,
3229, 3231, 3233, 3235, 3236, 3238-3240, 3242-3244, 3246-
3249, 3258, 3259, 3270, 3276, 3290, 3297, 3299, 3317, 3318,
3359, 3397, 3401, 3409, 3417, 3427-3433, 3437, 3442, 3450,
3451, 3453, 3463, 3466, 3468-3472, 3474, 3486, 3489, 3494,
3506, 3532, 3616, 3642, 3659, 3664, 3675, 3682, 3684, 3695,
3706, 3724, 3730, 3732, 3745, 3747, 3748, 3753, 3754, 3756,
3764, 3857, 3893, 3901, 3912-3916, 3918, 3948, 3950, 3952,
3953.
Good Friday, 2423, 2424, 2804, 2883, 2929, 2961.
Goose, 361, 1469, 2295, 2413 (egg), 2530-2536, 2717, 3615, 3616.
Goose-grease, 1127, 1350.
Grandparent, 769, 894, 3704.
Grapes, 1220, 1470, 2441, 2443, 2827, 2931.
Grasshopper, 2538, 3697.
Grave, 718, 769, 744-777, 1471, 1658, 2136, 2968, 2977, 2978, 2990,
3350, 3351, 3457, 3475, 3865.
Gravel, 115, 1262 (kidneys), 1357, 1472, 1473, 3918.
Graveyard, 378, 766, 767, 768, 771, 772, 773, 774, 1442, 1461, 2450.
2451, 2831, 3290, 3468, 3469, 3471, 3472, 3473, 3821.
Graveyard Rabbit, 3468-3473.
Gray, 629, 639, 905, 1962, 1965, 2479, 2482-2484, 3223, 3421, 3451-
3453, 3456, 3458, 3605.
Grease, 1122, 1273, 1313, 1341, 1479, 2284, 2285, 3483.
Green, 13, 629, 631, 633, 1374, 1484, 1539, 2450, 2831, 2841, 3113,
3676.
Ground-hog, 1387, 2414, 2415, 3390.
Ground-squirrel, 3491, 3492.
Gun, 1954, 3208, 3212-3214, 3652, 3782.
Gunpowder, 1123, 3372.
Gypsy, 3912.
H
Hair, 23, 24, 25, 58, 59, 177, 260, 305, 811, 362-370, 387,
438, 440, 468, 486, 488, 489, 490, 504, 513, 514, 524, 741,
834, 870-914, 916, 925, 1061, 1132, 1143, 1171, 1177, 1220,
310
INDEX
1222, 1227, 1228, 1231, 1233, 1284, 1286, 1349, 1366, 1371..
1393 (rabbit), 1464 (dog), 1719, 1828, 1829, 2047, 2050, 2074,
2076, 2208, 2300-2305, 2540, 2727, 2761, 2798-2801, 2811, 3368-
3370, 3380, 3464, 3482, 3510-3513, 3594, 3782, 3793, 3824,
3844, 3876.
Hairpin, 187-189, 371-375, 2044-2050, 2156.
Hallowe'en, 376-380.
Hand, 38, 39, 43, 44, 47, 48, 111, 112, 152, 175, 176, 179,
217, 221, 260, 269, 287, 292, 382, 383, 384, 499, 554, 556, 576,
588, 681, 682, 700, 787, 842, 846, 890, 920-935, 937, 938, 955,
956, 1023, 1067, 1076, 1180, 1218, 1226, 1263, 1298, 1404, 1482,
1486, 1506, 1529, 1537, 1540, 1541, 1545, 1696, 1698, 1748,
1805, 1834, 1882, 1906, 2062, 2218, 2230, 2231, 2974, 3045,
3156, 3174, 3192, 3247, 3264, 3409, 3417, 3539, 3599, 3600,
3631, 3774, 3783, 3784, 3857, 3870, 3887.
Handkerchief, 381, 429, 609, 664, 1276, 2053, 2425, 3013, 3235,
3773.
Happy Hunting Ground, 3868.
Hat, 55, 56, 57, 369, 386, 508, 1219, 2093-2098, 2484, 2921, 2922,
3172, 3211, 3381, 3770, 3820.
Hate, 408, 492, 617.
Haunted, 738, 741, 3262, 3286, 3366, 3404, 3504, 3859-3882 (houses).
Hawk, 385, 3438-3441, 3443, 3541, 3546, 3551-3557.
Hawthorn, 2810, 2851.
Hay, 161, 162, 2850.
Hay-wagon, 2933, 2935, 3172.
Hazel Twigs, 5.
Head, 49, 50, 55, 56, 57, 150, 158, 340, 364, 366, 367, 387, 4
523, 524, 536, 548, 787, 814, 891, 897, 900, 915, 1061, 1081 ?
1096, 1119, 1143, 1144, 1148, 1175, 1184, 1228, 1230, 1277,
1281, 1284, 1365, 1393, 1366, 1404, 1408, 1701-1705, 1724,
1969, 2027, 2033, 2050, 2095, 2097, 2151, 2152, 2178, 2
2285, 2291, 2358, 2483, 2484, 2543, 2544, 2889, 3146, 3 02,
3346, 3352, 3355, 3381, 3405, 3464, 3507, 3569, 3571, S
3600, 3601, 3661, 3669, 3672, 3696, 3702, 3703, 3735, 3736,
3746, 3761, 3805, 3818, 3826, 3936, 3942.
Headache, 1031, 1223-1233, 2132, 2164, 2798, 3511.
311
INDEX
Hearth, 1679, 3838.
Hearts, 249, 265, 267, 700, 871, 920, 979, 1621, 2240, 2255, 2260,
2272, 2280, 2293, 2296, 3532, 3833.
Heaven, 780, 781, 782, 1955, 3383.
Heel, 141, 311, 365, 387-390, 488, 661, 662, 1362, 1377, 2232, 3022,
3847.
Hell, 731, 1805, 1806, 1838, 2324, 2722, 2762.
Hemorrhages, 1070-1086.
Hemp, 1149, 1181.
Hen, see Chickens.
Herb Angelica, 1174.
Hiccough, 1234-1239, 3919, 3920.
Hives, 1240-1242.
Hoe, 1658-1661, 1663, 1665, 2735, 2877, 2878, 3683.
Hog, 317, 392, 1090, 1164, 1213, 1278, 1388, 1401, 1896, 1959,
2281-2288, 2541-2547, 2912, 3391-3400.
Hollow Horn, 1243, 3330.
Holly, 393, 2851.
Hollyhocks, 2936.
Holy Ghost, 1112, 1507.
Honey-Bee, 1066, 3663-3665.
Honeysuckle, 2851.
Hoodoo 3836, 3840-3850.
Hops, 1338, 1417.
Hornet, 2550, 2551.
Horse, 145-147, 151, 279-288, 318, 403, 427, 638-640, 760, 761,
1107, 1221, 1244, 1274, 1402, 1403, 1673, 1960-1966, 2277,
2294, 2548, 2549, 2800, 2984, 2993, 3223, 3387-3389, 3401-
3427, 3450, 3471, 3782, 3786-3789, 3795, 3819.
Horse-chestnut, 1224, 1288, 1299, 2887, 2888, 2889.
Horsehair, 503, 1475, 3444.
Horse-racing, 321 5-3224.
Horseshoe, 148-150, 394, 395, 665, 1308, 3406, 3407, 3428-3443,
3556, 3796, 3797.
Hotel, 3075, 3076.
Household Superstitions, 1574-1888, 2168, 3618, 3632.
Human Vitality, 3922, 3923.
312
INDEX
Humidity, 2525, 2552-2555.
Humpback, 340, 3221.
Human Body, 783-1025.
Hundred, 277, 278, 280-282, 285, 286, 288, 512, 2063, 2882, 2917,
3088, 3147-3151, 3410, 3416-3419, 3446-3448, 3452, 3648.
Hunting, 1673, 3206-3215, 3374.
Husband, 228, 231, 234, 243, 245, 258, 260, 266, 277, 285, 286, 296,
305, 308, 312, 327, 840, 346, 347, 353, 359, 365, 372, 374, 378,
379, 396, 419, 421, 423, 427, 429, 430, 432, 437, 441, 471, 476,
486, 490, 505, 507, 508, 514, 519, 523, 524, 553, 554, 555,
557, 563, 564, 567, 594, 608, 621, 636, 697, 703, 904, 1675,
1839, 2099. See also Marriage.
Hydrophobia, 1172, 1173, 3348, 3378.
I
Illness, 1117, 1122, 2000, 3855, 3856, 3900.
Image, 516, 676, 2162-2195.
Incantation, 96, 1114, 1328.
Increase in the Family, 1770, 1849, 1972, 3571.
Indian, 2575, 3553, 3868.
Indigestion, 1246-1250, 1846, 3329.
Initial, 216, 234, 258, 295, 423, 424, 450, 476, 500, 501, 532, 609,
3026, 3089, 3615.
Insect, 397, 898, 1351, 1379, 2240, 2260, 2556, 2924, 2927, 2950,
3005, 3660-3772.
Intestines, 1344, 1446.
Irish Potato, 1124, 1242, 1314, 1418, 2239, 2241, 2952.
Iron, 1254, 1675, 2046, 2725, 3556, 3958.
Itch, 335, 584, 788, 789-797, 806, 809, 810, 818-823, 849-852, 900, 918,
919, 932-935, 981-984, 1060, 1255-1257, 2382, 2506, 2626, 8174.
J
Jack-o'-Lantern, 3822, 8949.
January, 617, 2390, 2392, 2405-2407, 2593, 2791, 2847, 2851, 285S.
Jaundice, 1258.
Jaw, 1259, 3506 (bone), 3507.
Jaw-tooth^ 8.64, 1401, 1994.
813
INDEX
Jealousy, 291, 629, 840, 1983, 2847.
Jews, 3936, 3937.
Jewelry, 2060, 3240.
Jimson Weed, 828, 1347.
"Job's Tears/' 1217, 1389.
"Job's Trouble," 1728.
Journey, 966, 1922, 2730, 2731, 2754, 3034-3077, 3361, 3458. See
also Traveler.
Judas Iscariot, 2954.
Judgment Day, 1967, 2722.
July, 617, 2434, 2440-2445, 2826, 2847, 2850, 2851, 2852, 2866,
2925, 2926, 2998, 2999, 3505.
June, 617, 619, 621-623, 2269, 2434-3438, 2533, 2818-2820, 2847;
2850, 2851, 2852, 3544.
K
Katydid, 2557, 2824.
Kentucky Cardinal, 3642, 3643.
Kentucky Derby, 3414.
Kill, 722, 723, 730, 1084, 1170, 1172, 1193, 1195, 1323, 1334, 1342,
1343, 1442, 1443, 1720, 1927, 2007, 2257, 2262, 2265, 2269,
2271, 2284-2288 (hogs), 2293, 2312, 2421, 2533, 2545, 2546,
2639, 2640 (snake), 2647, 2648 (spider), 2660, 2697, 2822,
2834 (fly), 3101, 3103, 3213, 3267, 3285-3287, 3289, 3290,
3338, 3365, 3366, 3396 (hogs), 3399, 3445, 3466, 3469, 3473,
3481, 3495-3499, 3501, 3508, 3593, 3600, 3611, 3634, 3547,
3652, 3654, 3658, 3662, 3679-3681, 3692, 3694, 3695, 3698,
3700, 3707, 3712, 3715, 3622, 3728, 3731-3734, 3740, 3750,
3752, 3762, 3767, 3782, 3796, 3831, 3833, 3854, 3865, 3881, 3937.
Kiss, 15, 134, 319, 323, 399-403, 474, 492, 493, 499, 585, 696, 697,
795, 848, 849, 850, 851, 887, 970, 990, 1037, 1038, 1039, 1201,
1253, 1477, 1788, 1830, 2030, 2220, 2768, 2893, 3063, 3246,
3258, 3259.
Kitchen, 173, 570, 1585, 3566, 3614.
Knee, 1549, 2281, 2839.
Knife, 120, 358, 404, 405, 1074, 1075, 1093, 1095, 1414, 1493, 1751,
1757-1760, 1763, 1765, 1775, 1776, 1872, 1873, 3133.
314
INDEX
Knock, 503, 548, 1129, 1674, 1693, 2174, 2973, 3705, 3867 (spirits),
3869, 3900 (on wood), 3942.
Knot, 254, 381, 577, 579, 595, 1198 (pine), 527, 1528, 1540, 1681
(thread), 3622, 3954.
L
Ladder, 406.
Lady Bug, 3698, 3699.
Lamb, 2419, 2420, 3488.
Lamp, 1742-1750, 2558, 3808.
Lard, 1242, 1244, 1256, 2286, 2288, 3483.
Lawyer, 3132.
Lead, 1082, 1083, 1103, 1310.
Leather, 969, 1161, 1221, 2142.
Left, 329, 332, 395, 441, 513, 536, 662, 790, 800, 801, 804, 807,
822, 823, 918, 927, 928, 929, 937, 938, 981, 982, 985, 986,
987, 999, 1022, 1025, 1030, 1089, 1142, 1149, 1263, 1277, 1297,
1411, 1463, 1491, 1505, 1812, 2126, 2130-2133, 2144, 2207,
2212, 2232, 2368, 2989, 3013, 3056, 3086, 3096, 3247, 3271,
3272, 3426, 3431, 3461-3463, 3465, 3468, 3469, 3471-3473, 3492,
3507, 3539, 3624, 3765, 3880.
Left-hand, 927-931, 2757.
Leg, 1024, 1025, 1142, 1159, 1167, 1189, 1402, 1549, 1631, 1632,
2278, 2281, 2282, 2285, 2319, 3239, 3468, 3708, 3839.
Lemons, 218, 1478.
Lend, see Borrowing.
Lesson, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 3491-3492.
Letter, 258, 265, 384, 408, 423, 456, 476, 500, 532, 689, 818, 898,
916, 934, 1035, 1039, 1054, 1400, 1655, 1739, 1860-1864, 1866,
1965, 1968, 2014, 2027, 2028, 2044, 2065, 2067, 2068, 2127,
2703, 2746, 2892, 3078-3093, 3637, 3640, 3663, 3733-3737, 3751,
3757.
Lie (noun), 854, 855, 967, 1026, 1027, 1358, 1359, 1749, 2106, 3919,
3920.
Lightning, 1412, 1572-1573, 1669, 1799, 2559-2564, 2691-2693, 2985,
3313, 3408.
Lilac, 409.
315
INDEX
Lip, 849-852, 1012, 1085, 1091.
Liver, 1263, 1344, 2543, 2544.
Lizard, 763, 3700, 3758.
Locker, 3171, 3176.
Locust, 2270, 2565, 2566, 2900, 2906, 2985, 2986, 3701.
Log, 320, 1560, 1561, 2983, 3079, 3378, 3929.
Lost Articles, 105-120.
Louse, 82, 1969, 3702, 3703.
Lover, 214, 267, 832, 336, 337, 348, 352, 371, 381, 415, 420, 424,
438, 440, 442, 457, 509, 542, 582, 584, 585, 589, 595, 597,
888, 994, 995, 1239, 3853, 3958. See also Sweetheart and Hus-
band.
Luck, see Bad Luck and Good Luck.
Lye, 1147, 1158, 1258, 2321.
M
Mackerel Sky, 2628, 2729.
Mad Dog, 1178, 3348, 3377, 8878, 3379.
Mad-stone, 1173.
March, 617, 618, 1187, 2249, 2267, 2808, 2309, 2399, 2408, 2417-
2422, 2798-2803, 2847, 2851, 2852.
Mare, 638, 639, 640, 2630.
Marriage, 616-707, 903, 904, 927, 938, 951, 1004, 1856, 1614, 1615,
1675, 1760, 1764, 1838, 1839, 2084, 2099, 2152, 2195, 2694,
2703, 2759, 2846, 2847, 2896, 2915, 3027, 8279, 8280, 3305,
3524. Prospective Marriage 200-615. See also, Husband and
Wife.
Mascot, 3177.
Mast, 2487, 2452.
Match, 418-415, 617, 1288, 3037, 8127, 3876.
May, 416-420, 422-429, 617, 620, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1245, 2268,
2269, 2406, 2409-2412, 2422, 2431, 2432, 2808-2817, 2847,
2850, 2851, 2852, 2867, 2905, 2923, 8004-8008, 3835.
Meadow-lark, 282.
Measles, 923, 1265.
Meat, 705, 1347, 1479, 1570, 1821-1824, 2287, 2289, 3267, 8371,
3872, 3394, 8395, 3604.
316
INDEX
Melon, 1209, 2247, 2920 (musk), 3003-3009 (water melon).
Menstruating, 975, 1264.
Meteor, 128, 129.
Mice, 886, 2568, 3104, 3477, 3478, 3484.
Midnight, 379, 396, 608, 768, 1442, 1461, 1519, 1646, 2116, 2123,
2362, 2363, 2489, 2715, 2838, 2840, 2842, 2843, 3290, 3307^
3338, 3340, 3341, 3469, 3471, 3473, 3591, 3621, 3865, 3922.
Milkweed, 1266, 1480, 3333.
Mines, 3094-3110.
Minister, 42, 321, 1510, 3132, 3778.
Mirror, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 379, 380, 418, 419, 420, 421,
430, 431-434, 674-677, 743, 879, 2179-2195, 3309, 3357.
Miscellaneous Superstitions, 3883-3954.
Misfortune, 702, 1717, 1718, 2133, 2139, 3905.
Mistletoe, 435-437, 2571.
Mocking Bird, 386.
Mole (an animal), 1105, 1252, 1391, 1404, 1405, 2951, 3685.
Mole (flesh mark), 1008-1025, 1266, 1267.
Monday, 447, 625, 1035, 1036, 1037, 2417, 2457, 2458, 2460-2462,
2469, 2700, 2702-2705, 2709, 2713, 2718, 2724, 2738-2755, 2771.
Money, 38-44, 69, 118, 123, 129, 322, 653, 662, 732, 797, 820, 918,
941, 944, 945, 1013, 1015, 1017, 1024, 1392, 1511, 1555, 1675,
1875, 1876, 1914, 1932, 1973-1978, 2069, 2076, 2147, 2207,
2219, 2227, 2228, 2229, 2758, 2771, 2793, 2794, 3014-3033, 3037,
3040, 3088, 3220, 3261, 3410, 3416, 3420, 3446-3449, 3696,
3703, 3746, 3749, 3801, 3818. See, also, Wealth.
Moon, 121-125, 183, 438, 439-441, 656, 1193, 1367, 1413, 1443,
1481-1483, 1979-1981, 2196-2326, 2398, 2472, 2497, 2573-2594,
2655, 2711, 3413, 3468, 3470, 3471, 3775, 3821, 3868.
Moonlight, 1529, 2196, 2198-2200, 2210, 2292, 3290, 3470.
Moonstone, 2054, 2852.
Moth, 2309, 3704.
Mother, 54, 86, 100, 101, 102, 104, 874, 1011, 2091, 2136, 2278.
2847, 3148, 3226.
Mother-in-law, 1870.
Motorman, 3069, 8071.
Mouth, 26, 846, 864, 887, 1050, 1112, 1134, 1259, 1328, 1370, 1372,
317
INDEX
1373, 1374, 1375, 1414, 1824, 2105, 3184, 3772, 3779.
Move, 1581-1594, 2307, 2713, 2728, 2729, 2772, 2802, 3328.
Mulberry, 1367, 2986, 2987.
Mule, 151, 152, 286, 287, 288, 1982, 2277, 2595, 2993, 3415, 3445-
3458.
Mulleia, 422, 1126, 1262.
Murder, 745, 838, 2326, 3125, 3253, 3864.
Music, 713, 2690, 3911.
N
Nails (of the finger or toe), 51-54, 443-449, 957-968, 1269, 1406,
1407, 1466, 2298, 2299, 2702-2710, 2778.
Nails (metal), 153, 394, 395, 1244, 1270-1274, 1308, 1408, 1485,
2045, 2046, 2596, 3442, 3443, 3833, 3948.
Neck, 59, 516, 542, 748, 917, 1015, 1016. 1062, 1083, 1084, 1087,
1088, 1131, 1135, 1150, 1164, 1168, 1182, 1192, 1217, 1229,
1278, 1279, 1292, 1295, 1304, 1311, 1326, 1360, 1379, 1381,
1382, 1384, 1388, 1389, 1391, 1392, 1404, 1545, 1546, 1547.
2128, 2939, 3020, 3470, 3508, 3601-3603, 3912.
Necklace, 1216, 1389, 1397, 1983.
Neckties, 277-280, 283-285, 372, 505, 507, 508, 510, 511, 512.
Needle, 113, 673, 693, 1454, 1684, 2042, 2043.
Negro, 118, 771, 791, 829, 833, 890, 891, 902, 1005, 1177, 1556,
1771, 1823, 1984-1987, 2597, 2693, 2751, 2752, 2783, 3066,
3112, 3118, 3150, 3151, 3454, 3455, 3468, 3473, 3821, 3846,
3851, 3858, 3876, 3924, 3929, 3930.
Nettle, 1488, 2938.
Neuralgia, 1275-1279.
New Year's Day, 2781-2795, 2830, 2841.
New Year's Eve, 2843, 3263.
New York, 1763.
Nightmare, 1280, 1281.
Nine, 434, 448, 449, 463, 478, 488, 497, 498, 549, 556, 557, 801,
1107, 1145, 1154, 1203, 1207, 1234, 1235, 1262, 1275, 1330,
1353, 1373, 1379, 1884, 1433, 1434, 1437, 1440, 1473, 1489,
1495, 1543, 2102, 2923, 2953, 3080, 8134, 3312, 3444, 3590,
3774, 3775, 3833, 3835.
818
INDEX
Nineteen, 510, 3008.
Ninety-nine, 287, 3146, 3147.
Noon, 2366, 2367, 2470, 2611, 3584.
North, 1111, 1112, 1115, 1701, 2541, 2559, 2560, 2588, 2595, 2667,
2685, 3184.
Nose, 272, 363, 401, 451, 745, 788, 789, 790-798, 838, 1080-1083,
1086, 1087, 1089, 1091-1093, 1095, 1107, 1277, 1336, 2196, 2346,
2347, 2721, 2722, 3338.
Nose-bleed, 1084, 1085, 1088, 1090, 1094, 1096.
November, 617, 2847, 2849, 2851, 2852.
Number, 259, 288, 293, 302, 304, 342, 394, 395, 406, 417, 487, 500,
503, 532, 576, 592, 775, 786, 1644, 2068, 2069, 2181, 2403,
2407, 2411, 2453, 2534, 2564, 2579, 2865, 3122-3151, 3255,
3437, 3479, 3537, 3540.
Nut, 2598, 2599, 2649, 2696, 2826.
Nutmeg, 1097, 1250, 1279, 1292, 1311, 1360, 2939.
O
Oak, 1210, 1485, 2902, 3107.
Ocean Voyage, 3060.
October, 617, 619, 2399, 2448, 2847, 2848, 2851, 2852, 3868.
Odd Numbers, 294, 2764, 3218, 3222, 3537.
Old Christmas, 2391, 2452, 2715, 2835, 2839, 2840.
Old Maid, 241, 251, 263, 264, 428, 452, 470, 480, 601, 928, 1055..
2997, 3143, 3292.
Onions, 453, 1129, 1178, 1283, 1339, 1425, 1553, 1803, 1826, 2263,
2940.
Opal, 2055, 2056, 2852.
Orange, 666, 2941.
Owl, 412, 2600-2602, 3617-3628.
Oyster, 2844, 3706.
P
Pain, 1007, 1059, 1064, 1325, 1335, 1336, 1337, 1347, 1349, 1357,
1382, 1885, 1391, 1549, 2177.
Pain in the Side, 1335-1337.
Palate, 883, 1284.
319
INDEX
Palm, 918 (of Hand), 919, 935, 1127, 3734.
Palmistry, 454.
Paper, 451-460, 604, 1091, 1223, 1386, 1419, 1420, 1421, 1490, 1491,
1508, 1978 (money), 2737, 3088, 3483.
Parsley, 2942, 2943.
Partridge, 2335, 3628.
Passenger Train, 2122, 3073.
Peas, 462, 463, 2237, 2945, 2958.
Peach, 2987.
Peach-tree, 593, 1428, 1492-1494, 2274, 2988.
Peacock, 659, 2603-2605, 3114, 3629, 3630.
Pearl, 629, 635, 2057-2060, 2065.
Penny, 1194, 1347, 1495, 1756, 2066, 3317.
Pepper, 1140, 1819, 1820, 2946, 2947, 3843, 3845, 3847, 3848.
Persimmon-tree, 1115, 1496.
Petals, 300, 409, 515.
Petticoat, 477, 2091.
Phthisic, 1285-1287.
Physician, 7, 685, 3132, 3226, 3855 (hoodoo), 3856.
Piano, 2606.
Pickle, 252, 323, 324, 465, 466, 1801, 1827, 2323.
Picture, 425, 467, 468, 729, 742, 2163-2178, 3169, 3519, 3829-3833,
3860.
Pie, 198, 469-471, 1859-1866, 3089.
Pig, see Hog.
Pigeon, 3631-3633.
Piles, 1288, 1289.
Pillow, 69, 226, 317, 432, 434, 438, 455, 467, 536, 594, 863, 1338,
1641, 1717, 1718, 1896, 2232, 3380, 3382.
Pin, 178-180, 396, 473-478, 712, 936, 1283, 1331, 1444, 1497-1502,
1533, 2023-2041, 2124, 2125, 2694.
Pine, 1063, 1198, 1261, 2990, 2991.
Pink, 629, 2373, 3505.
Pitcher, 2674, 3161 (baseball), 3164-3168.
Plant, 889, 1034, 1509, 1666, 2210, 2235-2245, 2248, 2253, 2254,
2256-2258, 2260, 2263, 2264, 2398, 2688, 2866, 2867, 2869-2876,
2879, 2880, 2882-2884, 2901-2905, 2910, 2911, 2923-2927, 2929,
320
INDEX
2937, 2942, 2945-2947, 2949-2951, 2956, 2958-2961, 2908, 2979,
2990, 2991, 2995-3008.
Pneumonia, 1290.
Pocket-book, 2229, 3706, 3749.
Pokeberries, 1312, 2948.
Poison, 1291, 2888, 2948, 2986, 3112, 3726, 3758, 3759.
Poison Oak, 3930.
Poplar, 59, 1409.
Poppy, 2851.
Porch, 1575, 1623, 1665, 3284, 3573, 3574, 3671.
Pork, 1137, 1345.
Post, 590, 1061, 1143, 2314, 3042-3045.
Posterior Part, 976, 3375.
Post Office, 898, 2027, 2067.
Potato, 1316, 1504-1506, 2238, 2239-2241, 2949-2952, 3534.
Poultice, 1102, 1225, 1347.
Powder, 583, 2575, 3854.
Prayers, 1711, 1925, 2821, 2839, 3898.
Preacher, see Minister.
President McKinley, 3760.
Preventives, 1059-1550.
Prison, 1595, 1596, 1597, 3506.
Proposal, 301, 375, 506.
Pullet, 1264, 2795, 3538.
Purgatory, 3898.
Q
Quarrel, 794, 1555, 1562, 1563, 1731, 1733, 1734, 1811, 1812, 1870,
1873, 1985, 2170, 2847, 3042, 3043, 3046, 3091, 3928.
Quilt, 312, 479, 480, 1728, 1729, 1899.
R
Rabbit, 853, 1193, 1195, 1196, 1393, 1394, 2609, 2860, 3205, 3272,
3276, 3459-3475, 3821, 3845.
Railroad, 481-486, 2122, 2634, 3031, 3072, 3073.
Rain, 487, 489, 644, 645, 646, 647, 649, 650, 720, 776, 1517, 1926,
321
INDEX
2234, 2328-2332, 2335-2338, 2340, 2341, 2343-2347, 2351, 2353-
2357, 2361, 2362, 2366, 2370-2373, 2375-2378, 2382, 2386, 2400,
2401, 2417, 2425, 2426, 2430, 2434-2437, 2439-2446, 2454-2456,
2458-2461, 2464, 2467-2469, 2471, 2472, 2474, 2475, 2477, 2483,
2485, 2487, 2488, 2490, 2491, 2494-2496, 2500, 2501, 2505,
2506, 2511, 2512, 2514, 2518, 2521-2523, 2529, 2534, 2538-2540,
2548, 2552-2555, 2558, 2559, 2561, 2567-2570, 2576, 2579-2582,
2584, 2585, 2590, 2596, 2597, 2600, 2604, 2605, 2607, 2608,
2609, 2611, 2615, 2616, 2621-2627, 2630, 2635, 2636, 2638-2641,
2643, 2647, 2648, 2651-2656, 2658, 2660-2665, 2670-2676, 2678,
2680, 2687, 2694, 2804, 2805, 2811, 2826, 2827, 2999, 3495,
3761.
Rainbow, 490, 2610-2615, 2695.
Raincrow, 2331, 2616, 3634.
Rain Water, 1372, 1472.
Rats, 885, 3105, 3106, 3477-3486, 3840.
Rattlesnake, 9, 1148, 1182, 1202, 1322, 1323, 1345, 3723-3725, 3816.
Razor, 733, 1241, 2198.
Red, 274-278, 280, 283, 284, 289, 374, 510, 629, 633, 636, 799, 800,
834, 911, 1008, 1086, 1087, 1140, 1276, 1277, 1306, 1320, 1328,
1346, 1451, 1540, 2204, 2379, 2479-2484, 2699, 2914, 2915,
3088, 3115, 3557, 3843, 3845, 3847, 3848.
Redbird, 133-138, 493-496, 2617-2620, 3635-3645.
Redbuds, 497, 2954.
Red-headed, 771, 2787, 2946, 3065, 3116-3118, 3423-3425, 3454, 3468.
Red-hot, 3557, 3627, 3796.
Reflection, 426, 756, 1672, 2203, 2486, 2507, 2812, 3334.
Relative, 462, 742, 1501, 1915, 1942, 1998, 3589, 3644.
Rheumatism, 1293-1327, 2160, 2199, 2621, 2622.
Rhyme, 498-501, 1515, 3135, 3685.
Ribbon, 248, 1321.
Rice, 688.
Rich, see Wealth.
Right Hand, 932-934.
Ring, 116, 127, 181, 182, 502-512, 684, 690, 69S, 702, 811, 915, 956,
1077, 1162, 1297, 1298, 1308, 1S10, 1319, 1355, 1356, 1368,
1441 (bone), 1468, 1516, 2055, 2056, 2061, 2062, 2063, 2576-
322
INDEX
2583 (around moon), 2586, 2590, 2655, 3126 (bell), 3668, 3819,
3909.
Ring-worm, 1328, 1329, 1330.
Robin, 232, 513, 2364, 3646-3648.
Rock, see Stone.
Rocking-chair, 1639-1641.
Roof, 487, 1898, 3657.
Rooster, 1451, 1454, 2358, 2361-2367, 2795, 2808, 3538, 3539, 3558-
3572, 3574-3579, 3583-3593. See also Chicken.
Rose, 515, 623, 692, 1946, 2955.
Rubber, 2161, 3877.
Rug, 678, 1516, 1686, 1687, 2624.
S
Sage, 1373 (buds), 1374, 2956.
Sailor, 740, 2480, 2481, 2549, 2611, 2627.
Saliva, see Spit.
Salt, 1, 333, 517-519, 663, 1137, 1140, 1243, 1254 (of steel), 1345,
1508, 1566, 1585-1587, 1806-1818, 5323, 5625, 3524, 3649,
3837, 3845.
Sand, 2330, 2762, 3931.
Sassafras, 1115, 1509, 1510, 1781, 2322, 2992, 2993.
Saturday, 446, 453, 539, 591, 625, 626, 1035, 1894, 1895, 2233, 2234,
2289, 2466, 2473, 2700, 2702, 2703, 2772-2779, 3645.
"Scarify," 1240.
School Book, 89-94.
Scissors, 186, 1167, 1761, 2723.
Season, 289, 290, 311, 1890, 1952, 2329, 2370, 2393, 2513, 2680,
2683, 2700-2865, 2916, 2930, 2969, 3214, 3690.
Second Sight, 12.
Seeds, 87, 302-304, 580, 581, 1396, 1454 (wart), 2210, 2211, 2260,
2865, 2868, 2874, 2875, 2876, 2907, 2908 (corn), 2923, 2926,
2928, 2941, 2956, 2999, 3002, 3006.
September, 617, 2399, 2847, 2851, 2852.
Seven, 114, 295, 389, 481, 482, 553, 554, 555, 561, 604, 675, 1042,
1065, 1105, 1212, 1375, 1449, 1455, 1468, 1493, 1512, 1515,
2179, 2426, 2474, 2475, 2582, 2678, 2899, 3000, 3129, 3135,
323
INDEX
3178, 3285, 3310, 3326, 3444, 3866.
Seventeen, 2401, 2440, 2860, 2986, 3701.
Seventh, 1375, 1512, 3000, 3130, 3131, 3132, 3178, 3866.
Sew, 368, 1243, 1683, 2071, 2103, 2106, 2107, 2109, 2721-2724.
Sex, 269, 317, 331, 437, 463, 484, 554, 572, 588, 970, 2294, 2795.
Shadow, 2162, 2189, 2414, 2415.
Sharp Instrument, 1754-1756.
Sheep, 1265, 2201, 3487, 3488, 3917.
"Sheep-nanny," 1265.
Shingles, 980, 1332-1334, 2318 (of house).
Shirt, 1419, 1675, 2319, 3622.
Shoe, 159, 266, 268, 269, 374, 388, 425, 521-529, 661, 687, 699, 1163,
1281, 1317, 2002, 2003, 2129-2142, 2146-2160, 3341, 3347, 3623-
3626, 3805, 3840-3843.
Shoe-string, 2143-2145.
Shooting, 716, 2177, 2202, 2293, 3208, 3213, 3321, 3773, 3775, 3829-
3832, 3881, 3934.
Shot, 1101, 1909, 2004, 3213, 3468, 3471, 3783.
Shoulder, 104, 124, 125, 148, 156, 176, 179, 180, 183, 189, 203, 395,
431, 441, 553, 916, 1030, 1083, 1241, 1363, 1411, 1463, 1481,
1491, 1505, 1812, 2025, 2037, 2192, 2207, 2212, 2213, 2228,
2989, 3013, 3056, 3426, 3431, 3675, 3737, 3765.
Shovel, 392, 519, 2090.
Sidewalk, 461, 3810.
Sifter, 3827, 3828.
Sigh, 979, 2510.
Signet Ring, 507, 508, 509, 510.
Silence, 563, 3794, 3868, 3940.
"Silent Supper," 563, 564, 3870.
Silk, 289, 1091, 1268, 1276, 1292, 1321, 1476, 1513.
Silver, 1085, 1319, 1977, 2177, 2850, 3021, 3775, 3802-3804, 3818,
3819, 3829, 3832, 3836, 3849, 3850, 3881.
Sing, 549, 713, 1716, 1762, 1885-1887, 2332, 2637, 2659, 3050, 3653,
3684, 3702, 3911.
Sister, 607, 699, 1912, 2216.
Six, 375, 604, 1096, 1258, 2414, 2427, 2437, 2926, 2950, 2964, 3097,
3451, 3845.
324
INDEX
Sixteen, 509, 1096, 3445.
"Skew-ball," 2914.
Skin, 1104, 1193, 1195, 1241, 1304 (eel), 1322, 1823 (snake), 1419,
2952, 3107, 3611, 3723, 3816.
Skirt, 184, 530-533, 535, 2080, 2085, 2086, 2091, 3238, 3915.
Skunk, 1158, 1313.
Sky, 2482, 2627-2631.
Sleep, 226, 312, 333, 432, 433, 467, 506, 523, 540, 588, 594, 602, 604,
922, 1046, 1280, 1303, 1338, 1542, 1702, 1719, 1727, 1896-1899,
2021, 2199, 2200, 2201, 2346, 3080, 3168, 3283, 3310, 3880-3388,
3508, 3544, 3562, 3826, 3827, 3918, 3931, 3942.
Small-pox, 1151, 1339.
Smoke, 537, 1136, 1138, 1179, 1277, 1488, 2005, 2632-2637, 3127,
3854, 3916, 3925, 3926.
Snail, 422-424, 1145, 1146, 1154, 1895, 1514.
Snake, 265, 538, 1148, 1343, 2006-2008, 2395, 2638-2641, 2987, 8118,
3444, 3707-3726, 3758, 3842, 3861.
Snake-bite, 1340-1345.
"Snake-doctor," 3727.
Snake-rattle, 1231, 3724, 3725.
Sneeze, 77, 539, 541, 1035-1058, 1888.
Snow, 652, 653, 1118, 1166, 1187, 1188, 2009, 2333, 2396, 2402,
2403, 2409, 2418, 2446-2448, 2453, 2497, 2501, 2506, 2508,
2509, 2524, 2583, 2592, 2637, 2643-2645, 2657, 2668, 2832,
2863, 3011.
Soles, 1127, 1421, 1423, 2142, 2148.
Soot, 224, 1072, 1073, 1100, 1260, 1569, 1570.
Sore, 854, 980, 1132, 1185-1188, 1190, 1260, 1272, 1274, 1332, 1346,
1347, 1348, 1387, 1389, 3711.
Sorrel, 1963.
Soul, 764, 778, 780, 3898.
South, 2405, 2535, 2536, 2563, 2589, 2591, 2594, 2681, 2682, 2684,
2687, 2828, 3184, 3615.
Sow, see Plant.
"Sow-bug," 1130, 1258, 1379.
Spades, 249, 1658, 1663.
Spell, 2112, 3022, 3026, 8783, 3784, 3881.
INDEX
Spendthrift, 39, 943.
Spider, 542, 641, 642, 1069, 1232, 2647, 2648, 3730-3760, 3808.
Spin, 942, 1628, 2770, 3738, 3745, 3749, 3755, 3776, 3798.
Spirit, 730, 738, 741, 782, 846, 1712, 2837, 2839, 3262, 3504, 3704,
3820, 3859-3882.
Spit, 111, 112, 138, 141, 147, 543, 544, 805, 808, 832, 977, 1026-
1034, 1112, 1329, 1335, 1363, 1364, 1410, 1414, 1459, 1474, 1515,
1519, 1533, 1558, 1559, 1597, 2080, 2081, 2084, 2085, 2155,
2508 (spit fire), 2953, 3043, 3056, 3057, 3162, 3163, 3165, 3188-
3190, 3234, 3265, 3269, 3273, 3274, 3282, 3417, 3422, 3430-3432,
3465, 3503, 3648, 3697, 3710, 3765, 3766, 3771, 3837.
Spleen, 2545 (hogs).
Spoons, 358, 545, 1769-1773, 1777, 1801, 2850.
Sports, 3152-3229.
Spot, 783, 965, 966, 967, 1252, 3672.
Spring, 305, 310, 418, 419, 513, 547-549, 1337, 2250, 2329, 2330,
2394, 2395, 2396, 2428, 2429, 2498, 2520, 2526, 2680, 2682,
2684, 2688, 2696, 2806, 3512, 3543, 3700, 3713, 3915.
Squirrel, 2010, 2649, 2650, 2902, 2995, 3489-3493, 3782.
Stairs, see Steps.
Stallion, 1380.
Stamp, 90, 3081-3088, 3144, 3150, 3151, 3416, 3417, 3450, 3648,
3771.
Stars, 107, 126-129, 434, 439, 550-557, 714-716, 2576, 2578, 2579,
2581, 2582, 2651, 3146-3149.
Steal, 52, 558, 1354, 1399, 1462, 1463, 1465, 1479, 2869.
Steel, 1167, 1199, 1254, 1516, 3952.
Steps, 30, 141, 406, 430, 438, 488, 559, 561, 704, 774, 984, 996, 997,
998, 999, 1001, 1002, 1285, 1481, 1530, 1574, 1599, 1601, 1655,
1688, 2137-2139, 3593.
Stick, 600, 936, 1510, 1514, 1517, 1518, 1526, 2322, 3369, 3370, 3469,
3856.
Sting, 1066, 1300, 1351, 2512.
St. Joseph, 516.
Stocking, 311, 365, 513, 524, 2126, 2127, 2128, 2153, 3681, 3748.
Stomach, 1138, 1246-1250, 1429, 3329, 3488, 3708.
Stone, 489, 490, 507, 511-514, 547, 548, 583, 892, 893, 1033, 1104,
326
INDEX
1155, 1211, 1269, 1335, 1379, 1410, 1411, 1438, 1444, 1519
1520, 1521, 1527, 1574, 2054, 3115, 3379, 3950-3953.
St. Patrick's Day, 2937, 2949, 2960.
Stork, 11.
Storm, 643, 721, 1580, 2363, 2372, 2383, 2481, 2606, 2686, 2847,
3012, 3952.
Stove, 435, 1585, 1781, 1806, 1832, 3440, 3443, 3522.
Stranger, 560, 604, 795, 932, 1037, 1039, 1133, 1377, 1556-1558,
1736, 1737, 1968, 2913, 3402, 3564, 3688, 3693, 3739, 3740,
3742. See, also, Visitor.
Straw, 1522-1525, 1609, 2105.
Stream, 439, 880, 1197, 1357, 2386, 2635, 2676, 3879.
Street-car, 3064-3071, 3301.
St. Swithin's Day, 2445.
Stumble, 561, 703, 992, 994, 995, 1655, 2652.
Stump, 585, 985, 986, 987, 988, 989, 990, 991, 993, 1132 (of tree),
1210 (oak), 1269 (toe), 1372, 1529, 1900, 3501, 3502 (toe).
Sty, 1353-1364.
Suicide, 3125, 3864.
Sulphur, 1159, 1256, 1257, 1324, 3110.
Summer, 1388, 2329, 2330, 2384, 2397, 2398, 2453, 2566, 2680, 2682,
2684, 2687, 2804, 2819, 2862.
Sun, 423, 428, 489, 646, 1058, 1296, 1366, 1625, 1848, 1856, 1857,
2423, 2455-2457, 2463, 2466, 2471, 2473, 2486, 2577, 2653-2658,
2699, 2777, 2814, 2832, 3005, 3536, 3768, 3773, 3934.
Sunday, 446, 447, 448, 449, 453, 1035, 1036, 1037, 1038, 1040, 1048,
1407, 1895, 2325, 2426, 2427, 2455, 2456, 2459, 2464, 2467,
2468, 2470, 2700, 2702, 2703, 2708-2712, 2714-2737, 2743, 2805,
3593.
Sunrise, 424, 609, 1212, 1847, 2481, 2817, 3004, 3774.
Sunset, 428, 778, 873, 2464, 2469, 2481, 2485, 2699, 3707-3709, 3762.
Sunshine, 490, 817, 2456, 2653, 2654, 2657, 2694, 2777, 2832.
Supper, 563-564, 1043, 1822, 1823, 2607, 3561, 3870.
Swallow, 330, 861, 1073, 1101, 1232, 1275, 1284, 2896, 2930, 2941,
3531, 3532.
Sweep, see Broom.
Sweetheart, 200, 205, 206, 213, 215, 224, 226, 235, 242, 253, 261,
327
INDEX
273, 306, 309, 310, 328, 329, 337, 342, 349, 350, 363, 369, 370,
376, 385, 388, 398, 399, 411, 413, 417, 418, 431, 442, 444, 445,
446, 447, 453, 467, 473, 474, 475, 493, 494, 495,, 496, 499, 513,
515, 518, 521, 525, 526, 527, 529, 530, 531, 535, 539, 540,
544, 546, 577, 578, 581, 591, 599, 600, 792, 844, 921, 1002,
1035, 1038, 1788, 1841, 1842, 2030, 2086, 2165, 2892, 2893,
3557, 3645, 3853. See, also, Lover and Husband.
Sweet-peas, 2958-2961.
Swing, 3228, 3229, 3741.
Switch, 95, 96, 116 (peach), 117 (peach), 117 (cherry), 567, 157S
(peach, hazel), 2981, 2982, 2984.
T
Table, 28, 470, 517, 563, 564, 568-573, 1047-1051, 1144, 1638, 1744,
1747, 1753, 1762, 1764, 1774, 1786, 1810, 1811, 1813, 1814,
1824, 1868, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1885, 1888, 2151, 3140, 3142,
3231-3233, 3254, 3300.
Table-cloth, 1657, 1730.
Tangles, 578, 884, 885, 3510.
Tarantula, 3759.
Tea, 79, 575, 576, 1073, 1126, 1169, 1248, 1265, 1312, 1426, 1427,
1548, 1880.
Tea-leaves, 574-576, 1880.
Tears, 357, 635, 644, 646, 649, 650, 2053, 2057, 2218.
Teeth, 4, 27, 56, 57, 61, 68, 69, 70, 190, 856-869, 1092, 1229, 1283,
1381-1414, 1991-1998, 2077-2079 (of comb), 2142, 3772, 8779.
Teething, 27, 56, 61, 1381-1414.
Telephone, 2226, 2659.
Temperature, 2525, 2682, 2684, 2685.
Ten, 279, 283, 288, 483, 508, 899, 1450, 1481, 2839, 2365, 2627,
2829, 3001, 3007, 3054, 8469, 3533, 8583, 3692.
Terrapin, 3688.
Thief, 70, 2092, 2197.
Thimble, 693, 928, 1330, 2723.
Thirteen, 162, 557, 2754, 2764, 3136-3143, 3478, 8540.
Thirty, 257, 2399, 2418, 2439, 8188.
Thistle-ball, 580, 581.
328
INDEX
Thorn, 1154, 1530.
Thousand-legged Worm, 8771, 3772.
Thread, 113, 577-579, 1476, 1513, 1531, 1532, 1681, 3272.
Three, 225, 270, 311, 339, 427, 433, 455, 458, 514, 523, 539, 541,
552, 603, 762, 869, 899, 930, 1040, 1045, 1054, 1055, 1111, 1112,
1114, 1146, 1148, 1155, 1176, 1211, 1218, 1240, 1241,
1275, 1351, 1362, 1363, 1367, 1369, 1374, 1377, 1436, 1441,
1472, 1474, 1482, 1494, 1497, 1507, 1516, 1524, 1534, 1540,
1584, 1721, 1741, 1746, 1901, 2025, 2172, 2376, 2388, 2392,
2393, 2435, 2462, 2473, 2477, 2485, 2488, 2520, 2523, 2538,
2557, 2629, 2696, 2865, 2866, 2905, 2963, 2965, 3017, 3039,
3046, 3053, 3122-3128, 3189, 3226, 3232, 3258, 8259, 3274,
3275, 3307, 3342, 3344, 3368, 3411, 3412, 3462, 8542, 3568,
3620, 3766, 3773, 3777, 3805, 3807, 3923, 3944.
Throat, 1132-1137, 1170, 1181.
Thrush, 1369-1380.
Thumb, 152, 338, 384, 585, 937-942, 966, 990, 108, 1237, 1297,
1368, 3880.
Thunder, 782, 1669, 1799, 2394, 2395, 2404, 2407-2413, 2449, 2489,
2564, 2697, 2698, 2717, 3186, 3187, 8661, 8677, 3678, 3763.
Thunder-storm, 648, 764, 2329, 2689, 2690, 3012, 8952.
Thursday, 625, 626, 1035, 1039, 2464, 2700-2708, 2706, 2760,
2761, 3505.
Tickle, 71.
Toad, 582, 583, 1214, 1215, 1325, 1352, 1415, 2660, 3166, 3495-
3507, 3690.
Tobacco, 862, 1064, 1116, 1138, 1429, 1535, 2626, 2732, 2962-2967,
3697, 3815.
Toe, 584-588, 985, 989, 990, 991, 993, 1002, 1004, 1005, 1059, 1149,
1163, 1255, 1281, 1320, 1346, 1377, 1416, 2147, 2150, 3501,
3502, 3533, 3626, 3678.
Toe-nail, 1132, 2707.
Tongue, 78, 84, 854, 855, 859, 860, 1291, 8804.
Tooth, see Teeth.
Tooth-ache, 1395, 1398-1414, 2134, 2707.
Toothpick, 1536, 1538.
Towel, 568, 1730, 1731, 1793 (tea), 3128, 3180, 3928.
829
INDEX
Train Sickness, 1417-1421.
Transplant, 2261, 2943, 2977.
Travel, see Journey.
Traveler, 865, 2482-2484, 3024, 3134, 3458, 3460.
Tree, 183, 590, 741, 894, 1061, 1114, 1115, 1132, 1143, 1164, 1286,
1367, 1371, 1398, 1408, 1412, 1414, 1431, 1458, 1485, 1493,
1571, 1572, 2215, 2216, 2264, 2268-2274, 2458, 2594, 2643,
2644, 2661, 2662, 2665-2669, 2693, 2810, 2820, 2822, 2823,
2884, 2836, 2954, 2968, 2971, 2972, 2975-2979, 2895, 2990,
2995, 2997, 3213, 3384, 3396, 3546, 3612, 3653, 3655.
Tree-toad, 2670, 3506, 3507.
Trousers, 793, 2157, 2319, 2627, 2631, 3239.
Trousseau, 673, 3753.
Tuberculosis, 1141-1148, 1151.
Tuber Plants, 2241.
Tuesday, 625, 1035, 1036, 1037, 2471, 2472, 2700, 2702, 2703, 2709,
2713, 2756, 2757.
Tumble-bug, 2381.
Turkey, 1999, 2671.
Turkey Buzzard, 139, 591, 592, 3650-3652.
Turning Around, 987, 1235, 1362, 1497, 1631, 1632, 1633, 1635,
2720, 3275, 3820.
Turning Back, 3052-3057.
Turnips, 2998-3002.
Turtle, 3494, 3762, 3763.
Turtle-dove, 310, 311, 780, 2498-2500, 2796, 2797, 2820, 3608-3612.
Twelve, 170, 1115, 2367, 2390, 2391, 2680, 2835, 3306, 3806.
Twenty, 511, 868, 1241, 2114, 2399, 2864.
Twenty-five, 1537, 2268, 2998, 2999.
Twenty-four, 499, 2372, 2559, 2583, 2628, 2646, 2679, 3144.
Twin, 593, 594, 2247 (of zodiac), 3331.
Two, 359, 360, 404, 405, 500, 538, 545, 587, 588, 590, 611, 612, 613,
874-876, 899, 913, 934, 937, 938, 1053, 1103, 1112, 1129, 1148,
1219, 1241, 1269, 1343, 1504, 1620, 1636, 1637, 1648, 1683,
1731, 1734, 1745, 1763, 1774, 1797, 1811, 1883, 1884, 2097,
2098, 2120, 2182-2184, 2249, 2461, 2581, 2583, 2593, 2928,
2970, 3015, 3039, 3046-3048, 3125, 3178, 3210, 3226, 3258,
330
INDEX
3259, 3276, 3315, 3411, 3412, 3422, 3447, 8448, 3467, 3484,
3505, 3507, 3579-3582, 3612, 3666, 3870, 3941, 3942.
Two-dollar Bill, 3031, 3032.
Typhoid, 1198, 1423-1425, 3765.
U
UmbreDa. 596, 1723-1726, 2672.
Vegetables, 2235-2237, 2526, 2866-3013.
Veil, 13, 669, 670, 710.
Vermin, 2000, 2308.
Vine, 156, 410, 411, 1220, 1470, 2238, 2244, 2245, 2931.
Vinegar, 1223, 1538.
Violet, 2851, 3120.
Visitors, 33, 34, 560, 604, 698, 767, 795, 900, 932, 935, 993, 994,
995, 1037, 1039, 1042, 1046, 1052, 1053, 1133, 1377, 1556-
1559, 1564, 1609, 1619, 1625, 1637, 1653, 1684, 1736, 1737,
1740, 1765-1774, 1782-1789, 1793, 1795, 1813, 1832, 1848,
1852, 1880, 1884, 1968, 1986, 1987, 2039, 2041, 2051, 2072,
2089, 2739, 2740, 2783-2789, 2795, 2808, 2809, 2918, 3207,
3302-3304, 3353, 3354, 3356, 3402, 3523, 3558-3566, 3569-
3582, 3643, 3645, 3646, 3650, 36P71, 3688-3690, 3693, 3738-
3743, 3905, 3947.
Vomiting, 1426-1429.
W
Wagon, 151, 161-164, 2015, 2016, 2933-2935 (hay), 3071, 3415.
Waist, 1268, 2035, 2283.
Wall, 742, 1271, 1649, 1652, 2163, 2167, 2194, 3626, 3860, 3869.
Walnut, 1539, 2994, 2995.
War, 2204, 3479, 3701, 3943.
Wart, 917, 1402, 1430-1542, 3503.
Wasp, 597, 3764.
Water, 105, 117, 169, 248, 298, 333, 418, 428, 456-460, 478, 504,
519, 547, 563, 599-601, 880, 895, 921, 922, 1081, 1120, 1133,
331
INDEX
1146, 1157, 1188, 1191, 1194, 1197, 1198, 1210, 1235, 1258,
1265, 1275, 1282, 1309, 1337, 1376, 1377, 1378, 1438, 1524,
1529, 1531, 1541, 1543, 1571, 1573, 1668, 1733, 1734, 1792,
1796, 1803, 1868, 1869, 1870, 2017-2020, 2041, 2162, 2180,
2511, 2518, 2534, 2573, 2574, 2815, 2829, 2845, 2656, 3191,
3195, 3201, 3334, 3399, 3444, 3542, 3555, 3803, 3814, 3830,
3831.
Water Lily, 2851.
Watermelon, 3003-3009.
Water-witch, 3954.
Wealth, 313, 333, 384, 612, 617, 662, 836, 925, 961, 1035, 1036,
1611, 1706, 2084, 2146-2148, 2205, 2702, 2703, 2847, 3014-
3033, 3705, 3745. See, also, Money.
Wean, 2277-2280, 2296.
Weather, 2327-2699, 3206.
Web, 361, 641, 1069, 1232, 3734, 3736, 3737, 3738, 3741, 3743,
3749, 3754, 3755, 3760.
Wedding, see Marriage.
Wedding-cake, 602-604, 693, 2021.
Wedding-veil, 605.
Wednesday, 625, 1035, 1039, 2456, 2458, 2459, 2463, 2700-2703,
2709, 2713, 2758, 2759, 3327.
Week, 115, 404, 495, 1028, 1035, 1037, 1040, 1257, 1441, 1504,
1516, 1617, 1887, 1964, 2414, 2427, 2454, 2457, 2460-2463,
2465, 2577, 2703, 2705, 2710, 2738-2742, 2746, 2748, 2750,
2757, 2759, 2771, 2879, 2993, 3003, 3071, 3323, 3420, 3609.
Welcome, 982, 992, 993, 3569, 3570, 3738.
Well, 196, 420, 421, 425, 426, 608, 1453, 2812.
Wen, 1544-1546.
West, 1703, 2178, 2373, 2525, 2588, 2589, 2613, 2685, 3184.
Wheat, 429, 609, 1212, 3011-3013.
Whipping, 87, 826, 870, 897, 974, 1632, 1887, 2097, 2098, 2137,
2720, 3336, 3594.
Whippoorwill, 140, 141, 3653, 3654.
Whirlwind, 610, 1816, 2675-2677.
Whisper, 3669, 3699.
Whistle, 1715, 2617, 2665, 3098, 3595, 3596, 3907, 3917.
332
INDEX
White, 278-290, 443-445, 478, 629, 634, 678, 829, 899, 912, 965-967,
1221, 1321, 1472, 1548, 1946, 1964, 2013, 2022, 2089, 2124,
2125, 2451, 2522, 2523, 2530, 2634, 2663, 2669, 2794, 28S5,
2865, 2902, 2916, 2917, 2918, 3088, 3105, 3317, 3411, 3412,
3416-3427, 3454, 3458, 3467, 3606, 3613, 3704, 3870.
White Spots on the Finger-nails, 443, 444, 445, 965, 966, 967.
Whooping-cough, 1547, 1548.
Widow, 229, 478, 910, 1577.
Widower, 229, 534, 601.
Wife, 228, 234, 346, 347, 364, 378, 405, 419, 426, 429, 430, 471,
483, 486, 490, 519, 523, 553, 554, 557, 594, 680, 1760, 2099,
2694, 2703, 2847.
Wild Grapes, 2435, 2537.
Will o' the Wisp, 749, 3036.
Willow, 2996, 2997, 3384, 3823, 3835.
Wind, 841, 1680, 2350, 2369, 2405, 2424, 2427, 2478, 2525, 2633,
2663, 2678-2687, 2696, 3184, 3398-3400, 3844, 3862, 3923.
Window, 428, 1577, 1603, 1695, 1697, 2222, 2223, 2486, 2489, 3088,
3144, 3345, 3514, 3515, 3605, 3632, 3890, 3891.
Wings, 591, 2534, 3542, 3672, 3673, 3701, 3945.
Winter, 1118, 1309, 2327, 2330, 2352, 2359, 2360, 2379, 2381, 2394.
2396, 2397, 2402, 2403, 2404, 2432, 2433, 2446-2448, 2453, 2498,
2513, 2519, 2535-2537, 2543-2546, 2550, 2551, 2572, 2594, 2598,
2599, 2603, 2642, 2650, 2666, 2667, 2669, 2680, 2682, 2684,
2686, 3011, 3466.
Wire, 1302, 2226, 2659.
Wisdom Tooth, 867, 868, 3397.
Wishbone, 154, 611-613, 693, 3242.
Wishes, 121-199, 441, 611, 1413, 1486, 1543, 2896, 2934.
Witch-doctor, 1526, 3793.
Witches, 884, 1526, 1533, 3773-3839.
Woman, 34, 37, 251, 305, 324, 347, 359, 387, 478, 609, 676, 804, 834,
906-909, 975, 1070, 1123, 1533, 1586, 1677, 1726, 1765, 1771,
1773, 1778, 1784, 1795, 1797, 1801, 2092, 2101, 2120, 2122,
2205, 2208, 2750-2753, 2781, 2782, 2786, 2788, 2789, 2809.
3024, 3040, 3041, 3047, 3094, 3097, 3117, 3181, 3343, 3353,
3507, 3574, 3580-3582, 3595, 3596, 3779, 3954.
333
INDEX
Womb, 847.
Wood, 194, 544, 719, 788, 919, 1078, 1382, 1414, 1557-1559, 1561,
1572, 1781, 2026, 2698, 2762, 2973, 2992-2995, 8209, 3900.
Woodpecker, 2903, 3655-3657.
Worm, 927, 2317, 2732, 3691, 3765-3772.
Wound, 1075, 1076, 1108, 1110, 1112, 1173, 1273, 1340, 1341, 1843,
3112.
Wren, 3658, 3659.
Wring, 3601-3603 (chicken's neck).
Wrist, 969, 1161, 1306.
Y
Yarn, 598, 1086, 1089, 1160, 1255, 1326, 1346, 1409, 1416, 1540,
2688, 2885.
Yawning, 846.
Year, 60, 63, 64, 65, 66, 80, 96, 227, 232, 233, 246, 247, 256,
259, 276, 282, 297, 304, 307, 314, 368, 386, 389, 394, 395, 406,
463, 477, 487, 503, 504, 517, 559, 561, 576, 592, 606, 616, 624,
675, 685, 694, 697, 700, 751, 760, 775, 868, 973, 1013, 1136,
1584, 1644, 1685, 1704, 1797, 2034, 2139, 2172, 2179, 2181,
2264, 2272, 2802, 2388, 2389, 2425, 2441, 2452, 2473, 2513,
2592, 2681, 2696, 2780, 2781, 2788-2795, 2796-2799 (new), 2803,
2807-2809, 2814, 2830, 2835, 2872, 2877, 2878, 2920, 2986,
3140, 3148, 3285, 3335, 3437, 3445, 3497, 3607, 3610, 3701,
3712, 3941.
Yellow, 166, 291, 629, 632, 633, 2339, 2352, 3119, 3121, 3281, 3664,
3768.
Z
Zodiac (signs of), 2240, 2244, 2247, 2258-2256, 2258, 2260, 2263,
2272, 2278, 2280-2283, 2285, 2290, 2291, 2293, 2296, 2304,
2319, 2328.
334
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